Champion of War: Naruto & The Defenders
by Juubi no Shinju
Summary: The immense collision at the VOTE shattered the borders of Space-Time, sending Naruto to a new world. A world with its own dangers, but also with its own heroes. How will Naruto survive in a world of constant danger, with no access to his chakra and no way home? Luckily, he is not alone as he makes friends with this world's greatest heroes! With their help, he will find a way back.
1. Prologue: Goodbye, Naruto Uzumaki

**Disclaimer: Juubi no Shinju does not own Naruto or any Marvel material.**

**Hey guys! Juubi here with yet another new story. Why? Cause I felt like it.**

**Now, this story was actually a challenge given to me MANY years ago by a guy named _Snake1980_. I promised him I'd see about doing it, so here we are. 4/5 Years later. XD**

**Anyway, here ya go!**

**Co-Beta: Chaos-PSD**

* * *

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**"Kurama/Iron Man"**

_"J.A.R.V.I.S./Television"_

**_"Intercom/Communication"_**

_"Dialect Language"_

* * *

**(8/1/2020) Juubi: Some changes were done. Nothing too big, just some small bit.**

* * *

**Prologue: Goodbye, Naruto Uzumaki**

* * *

_I was never a firm believer in the existence of some all-powerful Kami or deities. I believe in stuff I see. Like giant asshole chakra monsters sealed inside of human bodies. Giant toads. Or ghosts! Ghosts I believe in. And fear. FOR GOOD REASON, DATTEBAYO! But gods? Nah. I mean, if gods really were a thing..._

_What the hell did I do in a past life to get the crappy life I have now?_

_No parents._

_Hated by 95% of my home village since birth._

_Having an annoying, sarcastic, sometimes sadistic mass of vile, angry and living energy the size of the Chunin Exam stadium with teeth sharp enough to tear me apart cell by cell and as big as a full sized man sealed inside of you by your own hero._

_Yeah, not much of a reason to be a believer._

_Though…_

_Maybe I could be wrong._

_Maybe...just maybe…_

_There _is _some all-powerful manipulator out there._

_Maybe_

* * *

**_Elemental Nations - Valley of the End_**

"Naruto!" Sasuke growled, forming a Chidori as he channeled the power of his curse mark, making his body transform with an almost demonic appearance.

"Sasuke!" Naruto gritted his sharp teeth, his anger forcing more of Kyuubi's chakra to seep out of him and cover his body in a tick bubble-like fox-shaped layer of red vile chakra. Holding out his hand, he formed a Rasengan, which combined with the red chakra of the Kyuubi, gave the Rasengan a darker, almost violet color.

With heavy, soul-shaking glares aimed at the other, the two leaped with all their might, attacks ready and pulled back.

_"There is no value in killing the likes of you… My foolish brother… If you want to kill me… curse me! Hate me! And live a long and unsightly life… Run away… run away… and cling to your pitiful life. And then someday, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me."_

_"Naruto...please, I beg of you. Bring him back. Bring Sasuke back to me! Please!"_

This was it.

There can only be one winner.

Either Sasuke is returned home...or Naruto loses his friend to darkness.

* * *

_The idea of some godly being controlling everybody's actions for some grand plan or something…_

_It's pretty annoying._

_I never believed in stuff like fate. I'm not Neji. I always believed that one should be in charge of their own future. That they should be allowed to make their own paths._

_Does that mean I would deny even gods? Maybe._

_They don't call me the number one most unpredictable knuckleheaded ninja for nothing._

_Emphasis on knucklehead._

_Though, when dealing with godly beings, what can one do?_

* * *

**"Rasengan!"/"Chidori!"**

The impact of two high density chakra attacks caused a wide shockwave to expand from the center, shooting out miles off to be felt by anyone, specifically Kakashi Hatake, who was moving as fast as he could with his trusted companion Pakkun towards the location, hoping to stop the battle between his two students before it got out of hand.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he tried his hardest to push his attack against Sasuke's. Their attacks battled for power, grinding against one another hard, as a shell of energy formed around the two. Naruto hissed as his hand began to burn from not only the chakra of the colliding attacks but also the Kyuubi's energy taking a toll on his body, as the more he used it, the more it began to burn his skin.

_'I...I can't give up! I can't! I need to keep my promise to Sakura-chan!' _He mentally shouted, his mind flashing to her weeping face as she begged him. _'It hurts...that she might never feel that way for me...but no matter what, even if she won't love me that way...I won't allow her to be sad anymore!'_ Summoning all his willpower, he put more of his chakra into his technique, making it bigger. Slowly, it began to overpower Sasuke, and he realized it, as he too called for more power of his curse mark. _'Damn bastard! Why does he have to be so difficult?! Such an asshole! Doesn't he realize the people he's hurting?!' _Flash back to Sakura. _'The danger he's heading to?' _Flash to Orochimaru. _'He wants power? He can get that in the village if he stops pushing people away!'_

_"So you're a shinobi?" Haku asked as she and Naruto gathered plants._

_"Sure am!" Naruto grinned, nudging his headband. "And one day, I'm going to be the strongest in my village. The Hokage!"_

_"When a person has something important they want to protect...that's when they can become truly strong."_

_"It's almost unbearable, isn't it… the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling; I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them. That's why I'll never give up. I will stop you, even if I have to kill you! They saved me from myself. They rescued me from my loneliness. They were the first to accept me for who I am. They're my friends." Naruto exclaimed, glaring at Gaara, who stared at him in shock._

_"I can't give up. I won't give up. No matter what, I'll keep my promise to Sakura-chan and bring back Sasuke...even if I have to give up my life to do it!" _His eyes lost the crimson, returning to fierce blue, but keeping the sharp pupils. They glared into Sasuke's Sharingan, seeing the darkness within them, the burning desire for revenge against his brother, as well as an almost obsessional glint for power. A demand for it. A lust.

It was sick.

He didn't want his friend, his _best friend_, to drown himself in darkness. He would do anything to save him from the dark.

_Anything…_

Sasuke glared at Naruto, the sight of him irritating the last Uchiha to the bone. Why does he always have to stand in his way?! This was his revenge! His goal! No one will stand in his way of vengeance against his brother. NO ONE!

Even if he had to sell his body to Orochimaru to achieve power, so be it. Not that he would allow that to happen anyway. Once he got powerful enough, he will strike down the old sannin before he could act.

_'Naruto...you are the one I can truly call my friend. You know about the darkness in the world. You know what it's like to hold power, and want more, to be the strongest. But...you do not understand what it's like to have lived a life with a family, only to lose them to your own brother. You do not understand what it's like to hold such immense anger towards someone. The burning sensation in your chest. The dream of seeing the death of a person haunting your every thought. You do not understand...you will NEVER understand.'_

The image of Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan flashed in his mind, making him grit his teeth.

_'I will not give in to Itachi's desires. I will seek the true power of the Sharingan my own way. But I will not allow you to stand in my way, Naruto. I will not kill you, be thankful for that.' _Sasuke thought as he pushed more chakra into the Chidori.

He wasn't going to kill Naruto. No. Instead, he sought to overpower Naruto's attack, and cancel his own before it could pierce Naruto, where instead he will deliver a blow to knock him out.

However...

* * *

_The thing about fate is not that I don't believe it's not real, just that it's not unchangeable._

_I once talked with Ero-Sennin about this, while we were looking for Baachan, and he told me: "Think of the future as a river. It flows in one direction but can go in different ways by breaking off into parts. Sometimes, there are rocks and trees in the way, and it adapts around them. Changing direction, but still going the same way. That's how the future is. It is always moving forward, never turning or going back, but can shift from its normal flow. And we never know what direction it could lead one to. Trust me, I met a psychic once, and she told me I would one day have a harem of women! HAHAHA! Wouldn't that be the life? Still, don't always be doubting things like fate or the future, kid. Cause one day, something could happen that may change your life forever."_

* * *

_However, Naruto seemed to have had the same idea_…

It happened so fast, that Sasuke didn't see it coming, even with his Sharingan. Then again, Naruto _was_ known for being unpredictable.

In a flash, Naruto _canceled_ his Rasengan, allowing for the Chidori to pass through, and straight forward.

"Gah!" With a shout, blood shooting out, Naruto gritted his teeth as unimaginable pain coursed through his body as the lightning coated fist pierced right through his chest. The feeling of having electricity shock and burn his insides was unbearable. Even after it already happened _twice_. However, pushing through it, Naruto narrowed his eyes in concentration, glaring at the frozen Sasuke. Holding his hand out, Naruto pushed through the pain, and channeled his and Kyuubi's chakra together, creating another **_Vermilion Rasengan_**.

Sharp eyes piercing the shocked and frozen Uchiha, Naruto growled. **"It's...over, TEME!"** He shouted, before slamming the attack into Sasuke's stomach.

"AAAARGH!" Sasuke screamed in pain as the Rasengan drilled into his body. With a push, Sasuke was sent flying back out of the shell, all the way back to Madara's statue, sinking deep into the earth. With a breath escaping his lips, Sasuke slumped over, unconscious as his transformation ended, his features reverting back to normal as he hung off the side of the cliff.

_Something was wrong_

Naruto might not be the brightest kunai there was, but he trusted his guts, and they were telling him that something was very, very, _very_ wrong. Even more than having a hole in your chest.

Slowly, but surely, the high-density chakra cocoon around the blond began to decrease in size, shrinking by the second.

_With Naruto still inside._

The storm that has been forming since the start of their battle grew in fierceness, lightning crackling through the dark clouds, the following rumbling thunder, shaking the ground as the wind began to go crazy. Not only that, but static began to course through the shrinking shell with an ominous range of colors.

It was at that moment that Kakashi and Pakkun arrived. Momentarily stunned by what was happening, his veteran instincts quickly took over as he surveyed the area. Lifting his headband up to reveal his Sharingan eye, he looked around. He spotted Sasuke unconscious in the statue of Madara Uchiha. Moving quickly with a **_Shunshin no Jutsu_** he got to Sasuke, grabbing him before dropping back down to the ground. Laying his student on the ground, he looked him over as Pakkun sniffed the Uchiha. The pug looked at Kakashi. "The kid's alive. Though his chakra reserves are severely low and in need of medical treatment." He said. Kakashi nodded, gazing at the, no doubt, Rasengan wound on his stomach.

"And Naruto?" He asked. Pakkun's response was to look at the shrinking chakra cocoon. Following his gaze, Kakashi looked at it as well, his Sharingan eye-sight peering into the orb, spotting his student. "Oh kami. NARUTO!"

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" His mouth stretching to their limit, Naruto screamed louder than he has ever screamed before, the pain he was going through suddenly tripling! Even more, the shell around him was now only 2 feet away, and closing fast. His eyes wide open, Naruto gritted his teeth, fists clenched tightly.

"NARUTO!" The yell of his sensei echoed through the valley, but was unheard by the blond, as with a final shout and blinding flash of light…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"

The shell vanished from sight...along with the genin trapped within.

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

Kakashi stood there, in the rain, frozen. His eyes wide as they stared at the space where the orb, and more importantly where _Naruto_ used to be. Keywords being _used to_.

"Naruto…no…"

Even with the sound of rain falling and thunder rumbling, his voice echoed through the empty zone.

* * *

**_Later - Konoha_**

Standing under the village gates Sakura gazed unmoving at the forest. Waiting eagerly for the return of her two teammates. She knew Naruto would bring back Sasuke. She knew Naruto was strong. He took down Gaara, if what Sasuke told her was true.

She believed he could do it. She believed in _him_.

And once he brought Sasuke back, they could be a team again.

"Hey, forehead." A voice called behind her. Blinking, Sakura turned around, and saw her former rival/rekindled best friend, Ino, approaching her.

"Hey, Ino. Back from checking up on Choji and Shikamaru? How are they?" She asked. She had seen the state Choji was in when the ANBU brought him in, and he didn't look so well. Shikamaru was more tired than hurt when he came.

"Shikamaru is fine. His only injury is a broken finger. As for Choji, he just got out of the emergency room. Luckily his dad had what was needed to help with the side effects of their Clan Secret Pills." Ino said, letting out a breath. "I'm just glad they are alright. Don't know what I would do if anything happened to them." She said, placing a hand over her heart. She was so happy her teammates made it out in one piece, and they had a legendary medic like Tsunade-sama fix them up.

Sakura nodded before she turned back to gazing at the forest. Ino saw this and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. Naruto will bring Sasuke-kun back. You know the knucklehead; when he makes a promise, he doesn't give up until he succeeds." She said with a giggle, making Sakura grow a small smile.

"I agree."

The two turned at the new voice, spotting Tsunade and Shizune approaching them. "Lady Tsunade." The two genin bowed to her, getting a chuckle.

"Now now. None of that." She urged. As the two straightened up, Tsunade looked towards the forest. "Don't worry Sakura. Naruto will bring back the Uchiha."

"I know, Tsunade-sama. I just hope that he makes it back okay. Both him and Sasuke-kun." Sakura muttered, looking down in worry. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up at Tsunade, who gently smiled at her.

"Believe me. Naruto is too stubborn to die. Trust me on that." She reassured. Looking at her, Sakura smiled back, nodding.

"Tsunade-sama! Look!" Shizune points out. Everyone followed her finger and spotted a figure approaching in the distance. Looking closely, everyone soon made out the figure of Kakashi, carrying someone on their back. At the sight of her sensei, Sakura's smile grew.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She called happily, before running towards him, Ino right behind her. Tsunade smiled at the jonin, as she could only guess Naruto wouldn't be too far behind him. As she got closer, Sakura's smile grew when she spotted Sasuke on Kakashi's back. "Sasuke-kun!"

Kakashi stopped in front of her, his mask hiding his frown.

"Welcome back, Kakashi. I see you have Sasuke with you. Guess the knucklehead accomplished his mission successfully." Tsunade said as she approached. Behind her, Shizune smiled, though it soon fell when she noticed someone missing. Tsunade didn't see it, as she looked around. "Where is the brat anyway? I expected him to loudly announce his accomplishment." She said with a fond smile.

…

…

…

Tsunade soon lost her smile, her expression growing to concern at the silence and lack of orange. Sakura, who had been staring at her unconscious crush happily, soon noticed something was wrong and looked at her teacher.

"Kakashi," Tsunade stated, her throat getting dry. "Where is Naruto?"

Kakashi was silent, his head lowering. A tight grip formed in Tsunade's chest as worry began to seep into her heart.

"Kakashi!" She snapped, making the jonin flinch. "Answer me!"

Kakashi took a ragged breath. "...Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama...but...there has been a casualty."

An icy feeling gripped the females' hearts.

"No...please...no…" Tsunade muttered, hoping above all else that this wasn't what she thought it was.

"I'm afraid...genin Uzumaki Naruto...has fallen in the line of duty."

This did it, as Tsunade fell to her knees, silent tears flowing down her cheeks. Her body was frozen stiff, unable to move. Blink. Breath. Nothing, as Shizune rushed to her side, also silently crying but able to hold herself for now.

All Tsunade could do was _remember_.

Remember the death of her little brother.

Remember the death of her fiance.

And now...now…

Meanwhile, Sakura staggered back, her knees shaking. She shook her head slowly.

"No...it can't be...it can't..." She pleaded. Begged, as tears forced out at the corners of her eyes. She nearly fell if Ino hadn't caught her, also shaken up by the news, but functional enough at the moment.

Kakashi looked at them sadly, his head bowing low as guilt gripped his heart tightly. _'Minato-sensei...Kushina-neesama...I'm so sorry. I failed you.'_

* * *

**_A few days later_**

"I wonder what Hokage-sama wants with us?" Kiba asked as he walked with Choji and Shikamaru towards the Hokage Tower. Akamaru wasn't with him, as he decided to let his pal stay home with his mother to rest.

Kiba was still in bandages, along with Choji, the two just recently moderately healed after getting out of surgery for their intense wounds.

Next to him, Shikamaru sighed. "Whatever it is, couldn't it had waited for a few days? I'm too tired(lazy) to deal with this so soon after that mission." He said, getting a glare from the Inuzuka, who proceeded to point at him.

"Like you're one to whine! Out of everyone here, _you_ were the LEAST injured. Seriously, man?! A broken finger?! Akamaru and I nearly died fighting those twin freaks!"

Off to the side, Choji chuckled with a sweatshop as he ate a bag of chips.

On their way to the Hokage Tower, the three met up with Team Gai.

"Neji! Surprised to see you up and about, man!" Kiba stated. Apart from Choji, Neji's injuries were possibly the most life-threatening.

Neji gave the Inuzuka a tired smile. Apart from his head, his whole body was wrapped in bandages. "Thankfully, Tsunade-sama was able to heal me. I just require rest is all." He said, before wincing as Lee smacked him in the back with a wide smile.

"Yes! Truly Neji's Flames of Youth have allowed him to rise back up! His win over the foul Sound Ninja has inspired me to train even harder than before!"

Tenten glared at Lee, both for the smack, and his statement. "Lee! You _just_ had your legs healed by Tsunade-sama! It's bad enough that the FIRST thing you do is fight! Gai-sensei told you to rest so you'd properly get back to full health!" She exclaimed. However, the taijutsu genin did not hear her, as he started listing the training he will do, making her groan.

Neji cracked a smile at his teammates. While a headache at times, the cause mostly being his energetic teammate and sensei, he was still happy to have them in his life. He turned to the other three. "I trust you also got called by Hokage-sama?"

Shikamaru nodded, covering a yawn. "Yeah. Such a drag. We should get going so I can take a nap." He said, with Neji nodded, and together, the six made their way to the Hokage Tower.

Soon they made it to their destination and entered with ease, climbing up to the top where the Hokage's office laid. Shikamaru knocked on the door, and getting permission, the group entered. Inside, they saw the rest of the "Rookie 12" there along with their senseis, with the exception of Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi.

The genin looked surprised to see the S.R.S. (Sasuke Retrieval Squad) already back on their feet, but were happy nonetheless. However, Sakura was strangely silent as she sat on a seat, Ino next to her, rubbing her back gently.

Tsunade cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. However, everyone saw the dark rings under her eyes, along with Shizune who stood beside her teacher with their pet pig in her arms. "T-Thank you for coming." Tsunade stammered, before clearing her throat again, before taking a deep breath, while the genin exchanged looks. "First off...let me congratulate you on a job well done on retrieving the run-away Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura flinched at Sasuke being called a runaway and wanted to say something, that he was not of sane mind when he decided to leave the village but instead stayed silent, not in the right mood to talk.

Kiba grinned widely. "All in a day's work, Hokage-sama!" He boasted while Kurenai sighed at her student. Kiba looked around. "Hey, where's Naruto anyway? _*Scoff*_ No doubt eating as much ramen as possible as a way of celebrating." He joked but stopped when he and everyone else saw Tsunade, Shizune, Sakura, and Ino flinch.

Tsunade bit her bottom lip, while Shizune hugged Tonton tighter as the pig oinked sadly. "I…I'm sad to say…genin Uzumaki Naruto…has been listed as M.I.A./K.I.A. at the climax of his success of stopping Uchiha Sasuke." She finally revealed. Kakashi had reported what he had seen happen to Naruto, and while she has never seen anything like it before, she could theorize that the large amount of dark chakra, likely from the Kyuubi and Orochimaru's curse mark, which Kakashi sensed filled the air, had a negative effect on Naruto, and might have caused an..._implosion _around Naruto's body.

_Wiping him from existence._

She could be wrong. _Kami_ she hoped she was, and Naruto could have just been sucked into the Summoning Realm, or some other part of the Elemental Nations.

_But until she spoke with Jiraiya, there was no way of telling._

The room became deadly silent. All the genin staring at their Hokage with wide eyes, mouths agape. They could not believe what they were hearing. The jonin were also shocked, but stable enough to lower their heads down in prayer.

"What the hell do you mean Naruto is…that's impossible!" Kiba shouted, not able to accept the news. He knew Naruto, and that he was too stubborn to die! He gritted his teeth as the Hokage stayed silent, and was about to yell again but stopped when Shikamaru placed his hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

The young Nara looked at his leader, his expression no longer lazy, but stern. "What happened?"

"We don't know exactly. According to Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke were fighting with everything they had. Their chakra filled the air of their battlefield. Apparently, it was so dense, it caused a chain reaction and in his words: _"Created a sphere of solid chakra"_ around Naruto when he arrived. The "sphere" proceeded to shrink in size, with Naruto in the middle. Before he knew it, the chakra contracted around Naruto…before disappearing…along with Naruto." Tsunade explained, not revealing the use of Kyuubi chakra and curse mark. She wanted to keep Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki until she knew they would not accuse Naruto of what he was not.

_She would not allow anyone to discriminate his memory...if he truly was…_

"That doesn't mean he's..." Kiba growled, clenching his tightly. The sound of a door slamming, caught everyone's attention, before noticing that Hinata was gone, making them frown. With a bow to her leader, Kurenai left to go make sure her student was okay.

With a shaky breath, a lone tear escaping down her cheek, Tsunade continued. "At this time, we do not have full knowledge of what has happened to Naruto…I can only hope my teammate Jiraiya can help figure out answers when he gets back. But until then...I can only say to fear the worst."

With that, she dismissed everyone, watching the group leave out the door, Ino helping Sakura out. Once everyone was gone, the dam broke, as gritting her teeth, Tsunade pounded on her desk, leaving cracks on the surface, as she began to sob. "Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" She shouted as Shizune sank to her knees, crying.

For the rest of the day, the two mourned for their favorite, missing blond.

* * *

_"genin Uzumaki Naruto…has been listed as M.I.A./K.I.A."_

Hinata felt like the whole world has lost its color as the words rang through her head.

Uzumaki Naruto, her crush, the one that gave her strength, her light in the darkness…

_He couldn't be...he just couldn't be...this is a lie. A joke! IT HAD TO BE!_

Hinata shook her head, her breathing increasing. Feeling the air beginning to choke her, she could no longer stay in the room and quickly ran out. Out of the office. Out of the building. All she could do was run.

As she ran, her mind flashed to Naruto's grinning face, as tears ran down her cheeks. _'Naruto-kun...you can't be gone. You just can't be! You're the strongest person I know! You dying is almost impossible!'_

_"I won't give up...not until I achieve my dream...NOT UNTIL I BECOME HOKAGE!"_

_'Naruto-kun!'_

Hinata kept running, unable to stop. No destination in mind. She could only run.

Soon, she began to slow down, before coming to a stop, her energy drained from her emotional distress. She wiped her tears from her face with the sleeve of her coat. Hiccuping, she raised her head, and finally noticed where she was.

The Ninja Academy

More specifically, the lone swing under a tree.

The same tree she had seen Naruto sitting on after he had failed the genin exam. Tears flowed once more, as she could see the phantom image of a sad Naruto sitting on the swing. Slowly, she sat down on the swing, the wooden plank and branch it hung off of creaking softly, but managed to hold firm. Gripping the ropes, Hinata closed her eyes.

The seat was surprisingly warm.

_Like Naruto._

Biting her bottom lip, Hinata could no longer hold it all in and began to weep heavily.

"Hinata!"

Head snapping up, through misty eyes, the Hyuuga heiress saw her former academy teacher, Iruka Umino, approaching her with a wide smile and wave. "Iruka-sensei..." She muttered, before trying to clean away her tears as Iruka got closer.

"Man, I'm surprised to see you back. Feels like years since the last time I've seen any of my old students." He joked with a light chuckle. However, his laugh died, as well as his smile when he noticed Hinata's state. "Hinata, what happened?" He asked, concerned.

Wiping her tears away as best she could, Hinata gave him a shaking smile. "N-Nothing's wrong, Iruka-sensei. I'm...I'm fine." She said, her voice cracking.

However, Iruka didn't fall for her lie. For as shy as she was, Iruka knew Hinata was strong enough to not show anyone her sadness. "Hinata...tell me what's wrong. Please." He said gently.

That broke her facade, as with tears running none stop, Hinata shot out of the swing, and collided into Iruka, wailing. Blinking in surprise, Iruka could do nothing but gently held her, now very concerned.

"Hinata!" He heard a call, and looking over his shoulder, he spotted Kurenai making her way towards them. The Genjutsu Mistress blinked when she saw the academy teacher. "Iruka…" She said, before frowning when she saw her student crying.

"Kurenai-san. Can you please tell me what is going on?" He asked. She sighed, before telling him the grave news.

* * *

Sakura frowned as she stood in front of a door in the Konoha Hospital, a bouquet of flowers in her grasp. Ino went somewhere with her team but promised to check back with her later, leaving her alone.

_Alone_

Was she alone? Naruto might be..._missing_, but she still had Kakashi-sensei and...Sasuke-k-...

Her frown deepened.

_"I…I love you with all my heart!… If you were to stay here with me, there would be no regrets…because every day we'd do something fun, we'd be happy I swear!… I would do anything for you! So… Please just stay with me!" Sakura begged Sasuke as they stood under the full moon._

_Sasuke was silent, his back to her. After a moment, he took a step forward._

_"I'll scream!" Sakura shouted desperately, crying as her hopes wavered. Suddenly, Sasuke vanished and appeared behind her._

_"Sakura…" She gasped as Sasuke chocked the back of her neck. "Thank you for everything."_

_"Sasuke...kun..." She muttered as she fell to the ground._

_Naruto grinned widely at her, giving her a thumbs up. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan! I'll bring back Sasuke! That's a promise of a lifetime, dattebayo!"_

Sakura bit her lip. She felt so hollow inside. Naruto kept his promise, and brought Sasuke back...but at a cost she never saw coming. _'I didn't want that…Naruto…is-is it my fault? Did...did you die...to keep your promise to me? Did...I kill you?' _She thought, horrified at the idea, gripping the flowers tightly. Shaking her head, she pushed back those thoughts. _'No! Tsunade-sama said they didn't know what happened to him! So he might be alive! I can't think otherwise!'_ She mentally protested.

She could only hope for the best.

Taking a deep breath, she put on the best smile she could, though it was more difficult than she thought as it shook. Either way, she slid open the door to Sasuke's room. She was there to see her teammate and check on him. As well as getting answers to what actually happened.

Walking inside, she was surprised, though she knew she shouldn't be, when she spotted Kakashi-sensei standing beside Sasuke's bed. He took a second to glance at her direction, before turning back to Sasuke, who was awake, to her happiness. It seemed that he was telling the Uchiha something, but couldn't hear what. She could only guess it was the news of Naruto's..._disappearance._

Sasuke's expressions gave no evidence to his feelings or thoughts, just a stone frozen blank look, his eyes staring deep at the wall ahead of him.

Sakura stood at the entrance silently, unsure of whether to move closer or not. Luckily, after a few seconds, Kakashi turned and made his way in her direction. Passing her, he placed a hand on her shoulder, before silently walking out of the room, closing the door behind him, leaving his two students alone in the room.

The silence felt heavy to the pinkette, hard to breathe. Her hands shook, but with a deep breath, she moved closer to his bed. If Sasuke knew she was in the room, he gave no evidence of it.

With her smile still on, Sakura sat the flowers next to the bed, before sitting down on the chair provided, smiling at the silent Uchiha. "Hi, Sasuke-kun." She greeted, her voice more of a whisper than she intended for it to be. She cleared her throat while Sasuke stayed silent. "I...I'm glad you're up." She said, eying the bandages around his stomach, and the ones on his face.

"..."

Not affected by his silence, she smiled as she looked at the closed curtains. "How about we let some light in, okay?" She asked, standing up. Moving to the windows, she parted the curtains. She smiled at the view of the village. "It's a beautiful day out. It'd be a shame to not see it."

"Sakura" The voice of Sasuke cut her off. "Stop. Please."

Sakura frowned, looking down. She stared down at the streets below, watching people walking to and fro. "I guess Kakashi-sensei told you." She stated more than asked.

"..."

"...Sasuke-kun...what happened? Between you...and Naruto." She asked, a tone of begging in her voice.

She needed to know...before she went crazy.

"..." Sasuke frowned. His eyes narrowed in a fierce glare. After a few moments of silence, he spoke.

"I killed him." He muttered. "I killed Naruto." He said, as his eyes flashed to the Sharingan, before they morphed into a different design. Sakura gasped while Sasuke's fists clenched tightly.

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..."

Sitting at their training field, the genin of Team 10 sat around in silence. Shikamaru laid under a tree, staring up at the clouds. Choji sat next to him, for once not eating. Ino sat against the bark, her arms hugging her knees.

Closing his eyes, Shikamaru took a deep breath.

"So troublesome." He muttered.

"For once, I agree." Ino mumbled, her eyes distant.

Choji frowned, staying silent.

_'We weren't supposed to lose anyone.' _Shikamaru thought, gritting his teeth.

* * *

"Damn it!" Kiba cursed, punching a wall as hard as he could, his expression one of pure anger.

Leaning against the wall, Shino pushed his shades up. "It is unwise to stay angry, Kiba-san. Why? Because Naruto-san would not want that."

Kiba snaps towards him with a glare. "He's not dead! Don't talk like he is! He's still alive! He has to be!" He shouted.

Shino stayed silent, turning his gaze towards the sky above.

* * *

"Lee. What are you doing?" Tenten asked, watching as Lee did push-ups as fast as he could.

"Training! I must get stronger!" Lee stated.

Tenten sighed at him, while Neji leaned against a tree of their training ground. "Lee..."

"It's my fault Naruto-kun is...if I had finished off the Bone ninja, I could have gone and aided Naruto-kun in stopping Sasuke-kun! If I had been stronger..." Lee said, gritting his teeth, feeling great self-disappointment.

Tenten frowned sadly at him. "Lee..." She muttered, watching her teammate train, not seeing Neji clenching his fists.

* * *

Kakashi frowned as he stood in front of the memorial stone. His chest felt heavy, as if hard stone was pressing down on it. More than ever before. "Minato-sensei...Kushina-neesama...I'm so sorry. I failed you." He said, bowing his head.

_"Kakashi-sensei! Glad I found you!"_

_"Naruto. Please keep your voice down. We're in a hospital."_

_"Hey! Hey! Can you train me for the Chunin Exam Finals?!" Naruto asked a wide hopeful grin. Kakashi gave him a sheepish eye-smile, rubbing the back of his head._

_"Sorry, Naruto. I'll be training Sasuke." He said, not seeing Naruto's shocked and betrayed look. "But don't worry! I have the perfect instructor for you."_

_"I can't believe you taught Naruto the Rasengan, Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi glared disapprovingly at the Sannin. "Don't you think teaching him such a powerful move was irresponsible?"_

_Jiraiya scoffed at him. "Like you're one to talk. What were you thinking? Teaching Sasuke the Chidori. The kid's obviously mentally unstable after what happened to his clan. Then he got Orochimaru's seal, with it doing Kami knows what to his already fragile mind. Giving him that assassination move was like blowing on an already lit fuse. Besides, Naruto has the right to know one of Minato's techniques. Now, don't you think you should be checking on your student? You know, perhaps the only one you actually have left?"_

_'I failed to follow in your teachings, Minato-sensei. I was not able to remove Sasuke's lust for vengeance, and because of that, it has lead to the possible death of your son, who I failed to protect as I promised you. If Naruto truly is dead, I hope he is happily reunited with you and Kushina. If by some miracle he is alive, I will find him, and I'll beg for forgiveness in neglecting him.' _He vowed.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Gai and Asuma behind him. Looking at them, they stared back. After a moment, Kakashi turned back to the stone, as the two men moved to his side, gazing at the memory of those who have passed.

* * *

"What?! Naruto is dead?!" Temari shouted as she and Kankuro started at Tsunade in shock.

Tsunade frowned, eyes red from crying. "Or missing. We are not quite sure what has happened, as something like this has ever happened before. Hopefully, he was just placed in a different part of the Elemental Nations. Once things settle down, I will be sending ninjas out to look for him. We would appreciate it if Suna helped us." She said, a tone of pleading in her voice. She will be sending messages to all of Konoha's allies to help look for the missing whiskered genin.

"Well…" Temari muttered. Suna currently didn't have a Kage yet, and her old sensei Baki was standing in as an unofficial substitute until they found one suitable.

"We'll do it."

The siblings turned to their younger brother, who had been silent throughout the whole thing, arms crossed and an unreadable expression on his face. "Gaara..."

Gaara blinked, staring at Tsunade. "We will help find Naruto. He is...my friend." He said, ignoring the surprised looks his siblings sent him. Tsunade smiled, standing up, and bowed to Gaara.

"Thank you."

Nodding, Gaara turned, heading to the door. Taking that as their cue, Temari and Kankuro followed behind him. Stopping at the door, Gaara turned to the Hokage. "Tell me...was the cause of this event the Uchiha?" He asked, an undertone of something negative in his question.

Frowning, unsure of how to answer, Tsunade then nodded. "Yes, at least part of it. As I said, we do not have all the details."

Gaara narrowed his eyes. "The Uchiha still attempted to desert the village and go rogue and played a large part in Naruto's disappearance. I trust he will be punished accordingly?" He asked.

Tsunade glared, but it wasn't aimed at Gaara, but at the image of the little Uchiha punk. "Trust me, death would feel like a safe escape when I'm done." She stated.

Nodding in satisfaction, Gaara left the office, his brother and sister behind them.

Left alone, Tsunade sat back down with a heavy sigh. Turning her chair, she stared out the large window. "Naruto...you're alive, right? If so...where are you?" She asked.

* * *

**_Earth-199919 - Sanctum Sanctorum_**

Within an empty, darkness-filled chamber. The windows closed and the lights off. The only sign of light being illuminated by a lone lit candle on the floor in front of a figure who sat with his legs crossed and eyes closed.

It was a man with dark hair combed back and greyish sideburns. Breathing in deeply, he seemed to be meditating, as a green glow shone from the medallion around his neck. As he continued meditating, his eyes soon snapped open.

Outside the chamber, an Asian man busied himself in cleaning around the large house. Sure he could have used magic…

But then he would just get bored.

Suddenly, the doors to Strange's meditation chamber opened, with the newly appointed Sorcerer Supreme walking out, a troubled expression on his face. "Strange, what's wrong?" The Masters of the Mystic Arts, Wong, asked as Stephen Strange walked past him. Putting down the duster, Wong followed him.

"I just sensed something break through the Dimensional Wall into our universe." Strange stated, causing Wong to frown in worry.

"Is it Dormammu?" He asked, great worry and a hint of fear in his tone. While Strange may have forced the Dimensional Being to leave Earth before, he would not count on the entity to stick to his word. While he may have defeated Dormammu the first time, that word could be used _very _loosely, as Strange only trapped the being in a time loop.

And that was only when the being was still on the edge of escaping the Dark Realm.

Thankfully, or perhaps not, Strange shook his head. "No, I sense it is not him, but something else. And that's what troubles me. I would not have caught it if I hadn't been meditating."

Wong frowned. "Well, do you at least know what it is?"

Also frowning, Stephen shook his head. "All I know is that it is incredibly powerful, and coming to Earth any second now."

Wong sighed. "Of course it is."

* * *

**_New York City - Avengers Tower_**

"Alright people. Gather around."

The source of the speaker was everyone's favorite genius billionaire playboy philanthropist inventor, Tony Stark.

Also known to the public as **Iron Man**.

Standing in front of several holographic monitors, he looked at the data displayed on them, before turning to the group behind him.

_And what a group they were…_

Steve Rogers, aka **Captain America**. America's first super soldier. Created back in World War II, now in modern 2010s due to being frozen in ice for decades.

Natasha Romanoff (or is it Natalia Romanova? He couldn't remember), aka **Black Widow**. Russian superspy able to kill a man in 100 different ways - at least that's what she claims - and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Though if she was still with them or not since joining the team was the question. One could never tell with her.

**Thor Odinson**. Asgardian God of Thunder who decided to stay on Earth, or "Midgard" as Thor called it, and protect it.

Clint Barton. **Hawkeye**. Master archer able to hit a bullseye from a hundred feet away...while fighting aliens. Yeah, you had to be there. Former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Natasha's partner when on it, but left when he joined the team.

Sam Wilson. **Falcon**. Former U.S. Air Force pararescueman, and great friend and ally of Steve. Master combatant, especially in aerial combat, with his Exo-7 Falcon wing harness.

Henry "Hank" Pym, known as **Ant-Man** due to his amazing creation of "Pym Particles", which allow him to alter the size and mass of anything, object or living being, including himself. With a special device that controls the particles, he is able to shift his size to a giant, or the size of his focus of studies; ants. As well as communicate with said insects and command them to do what he wanted thanks to his nifty helmet. Hence the title. Hank was also a known pacifist, always reluctant to use force and desiring to settle things peacefully without violence. Which almost never happens.

And finally, there was the **Wasp**, Janet van Dyne. Hank's "girlfriend". Quotes added, cause even a numbskull could see their relationship straining, the cause mostly being Hank with his _*cough*_obsession_*cough* _with ants and negligence to Janet. The guy really didn't know what he was missing. Anyway, Janet was also Hank's assistant when he created the Pym Particles, and so she was also able to change her size and mass, mostly for shrinking, and with her flight suit of buzzing wings, could be a dangerous, stinging bee. Or more appropriately, a _wasp_. But while she might be small, she can really pack a punch.

There were two more members, but they were currently unavailable.

The **Hulk**. The inner rage-filled beast of former gamma radiation scientist Bruce Banner, and an old friend of Tony, that when angry turned into a large muscle bound "monster". Though for the past few weeks, it would seem it was more Hulk than Banner, even when calm. Currently, the big guy was off in the wind. Keeping away from any people, or army that was chasing him like sharks to meat. He was offered to join the team, but turned it down. But Tony knew he'll come around...eventually.

Then there was the newest member; Carol Danvers. A bright young girl with a great future ahead of her. Eighteen, and already one of the best pilots of the United States Air Force. At least, that was before she got caught in the middle of some trouble with some aliens. Long story short, she had to have a blood transfusion, and the lucky volunteer was actually an alien named Mar-Vell who had been disguising himself as a human scientist where Carol worked. Of course, the effect of putting alien blood in a human caused said human to gain powers similar to Mar-Vell, and since then has joined the team of heroes, taking on a title to honor her friend: **Miss Marvel**.

Currently, Carol was out on patrol but should be due back any moment now.

And together, they made the **Avengers**, Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Steve raised a brow at the team's leader. "And what's the big meeting for, Tony?"

"I swear, if it's to showcase another new armor you made, I'm outta here." Clint grumbled, as Tony usually did that.

"Agreed" Natasha said. Tony waved them off.

"Relax, it's not a new armor…not today anyway. I'm being serious for once. As we all know, some time has passed since Loki attacked New York with his little alien friends." He stated, making Thor frown sadly at the reminder of his little brother's attack. Guilt gripped his chest, knowing Loki became the way he was because of his jealousy towards him, and now, the youngest son of Odin sat in a cell in Asgard for who knows how long. Tony continued. "All damage dealt that day has been fixed and things seem calm for the moment. Though things have been quite active since them since the appearance of superpowered humans that started popping up. Mutants, as the public is calling them. People are scared, confused, and wanting answers. Reports of fights breaking out have been reported, these people are being seen as anything _but _humans by others. It's utter chaos really."

"What do you recommend we do, Tony?" Steve asked. Being a relic of the past, Steve was still attempting to understand this new world he had woken up in, but like the soldier he was, he will brave through it. He has heard of the conflict this new development has sprung up, and it saddened him to see fellow humans turning on their own kind simply because they were different. Sadly, it was almost impossible to change how a person thinks or feels about something if they didn't want to.

Tony opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted when the alarm suddenly blared, catching them by surprise. "J.A.R.V.I.S., what's going on?" he questioned his digital assistant.

_"Sir, sensors detected a sudden surge of energy appearing out of nowhere, giving off similar readings to the portal created by the Tesseract."_

Everyone's eyes widened at that. "Location!" Tony demanded.

_"Directly above Avengers Tower, sir."_

"Everybody to the roof, now!" Steve commanded, taking his role as co-leader of the Avengers. Nodding, the group made their way to the elevator or stairs, while Tony quickly suited up into one of his armor suits, and flew out the emergency hatch on the window.

Soon, everyone gathered on the roof, staring up at the sky, as a large blue portal appeared.

"That's not good." Clint muttered, hoisting an arrow. "Please tell me we aren't about to have another alien invasion."

"Whatever it is…" Tony said, as his faceplate covered his face. **"We'll handle it and make them sorry they tried to attack Earth."** Suddenly, he got a call from Ms. Marvel. **"Hey Carol."**

**_"Um, Tony? What am I seeing above the tower?"_** Ms. Marvel asked, having been on her way back when she saw the portal appear.

**"Oh you know. Just a portal to possibly an alien world."** He said nonchalant.

_"Sir, I'm detecting something exiting the portal."_

**"Alright team, get ready for whatever is coming our way."** Tony said as everyone readied themselves. Just then, the portal flashed. Tony focuses his suit's cameras to zoom in, barely able to spot something small falling from the portal. **"Something's coming!"**

"Can you see what it is?" Captain America asked.

**"It's..."** Tony's camera zoomed in enough for him to make it out, and what he saw made his eyes widen. **"What the hell?! Carol! Catch it!"**

**_"What? What is it?"_** Carol asked as she neared the tower and portal.

**"Questions later! Just catch it!"** Iron man ordered. Not arguing, Carol flew as fast as she could as she shot towards the portal and the falling object. Getting closer, she gasped when she saw what was, and quickly caught it, before flying down towards the others.

**_"Tony! Prepare the med bay. Stat!"_** she shouted loudly over the comlinks that it made the others wince.

**"J.A.R.V.I.S., do as she says!"** Tony ordered.

_"Right away, sir."_

Confused by what was going on, Steve looked at Tony. "Tony, what's happened?" He asked, the others also wanting to know. Iron Man looked at them.

**"You'll find out soon enough."** He said, as Carol shot past them.

The team soon ran to the med bay, and what they saw shocked them.

There, on the table, was a young _human _boy. Messy blond hair, covered in dirt. Torn orange jacket and pants. Strange markings on his cheeks, resembling whiskers. And finally…

A _large_ hole in his chest, the size of a fist, with blood spewing from it.

"By Odin's beard." Thor muttered in horror. He wasn't the only one, as the others have never seen something like this before, with the exception of Cap, Natasha, and Clint. But even they were frozen at the sight, while Janet was shaking.

Iron Man's faceplate moved up, revealing his face as he quickly moved to the table's side, Carol on the other. "J.A.R.V.I.S.! I need arms and medication, now!"

Soon, robotic arms came down from the roof, medical tools in hand.

"What could have done something like this?" Cap asked, eyes narrowed in anger. His mind flashed back to the days of WWII, when he would see the after effects of Hydra's attacks on towns, and the bodies they dropped. Men, women, and children.

He had hoped to never see something like that in this time.

Thor gritted his teeth, sparks coursing through his body. "Whatever the cause, they shall feel the Thunder God's fury!"

Clint shook his head, getting serious. "Let's focus on getting the kid fixed up before we think about going on a warpath, okay?" He asked.

Suddenly, the kid coughed, blood shooting out, as he began to shake uncontrollably.

"He's going into shock!" Tony said, making to a drawer. "We need to keep him steady if we want to fix that hole! Hold him down!"

Clint and Natasha helped Carol hold the kid as he was shaking hard. Clint grunted, finding it surprisingly hard to hold him down. "Kid's stronger than he looks!"

"Hurry, Stark!" Natasha said. Soon Tony found what he was looking for, holding up a syringe.

"RAGH!" The kid suddenly shouted, but not only that, a sudden energy seemed to shoot out of him, pushing everyone back. Even knocking Hawkeye into Ant-Man and Captain America.

"What in Midgard's name?!" Thor question.

"Later, hold him!" Cap ordered, as Janet and Natasha got to it. Tony moved quickly, and injected the syringe into the boy. Said boy gasped, his eyes shot open to reveal blue eyes with slit pupils, which expanded to normal rounds. The eyes stared up at the light above, with Natasha and Janet over him.

_"Te-Ten...shi..."_ He muttered, staring at the two women, before his eyes closed as he fell unconscious.

With everything settling, the group let out a sigh, as Tony and J.A.R.V.I.S. get to work stopping the bleeding and patch him up as best they could.

"Alright, what the hell just happened, and who is this kid?" Clint asked.

* * *

**_End of Prologue/Chapter_**

**_Until next time!_**

**_Ja ne!_**


	2. Mayhem at the Tower, Ninja Meets Heroes

**Disclaimer: Juubi no Shinju does not own Naruto or any Marvel material.**

**Sup everyone! I'm really happy about the positive reviews this story is getting. Well, I'm happy for the positive reviews ANY of my stories get, but focusing on this particular one, I'm excited about what I've got in store.**

**Out of perhaps all of my Superhero-Naruto stories I've planned over, this one has to be the most...unique. You'll understand what I mean as it goes.**

**Let's just say I have BIG plans for this story.**

**Also, for those curious about the story's placement in the Marvel media universe, it's kinda a MIX of _all _of Marvel media.**

**_The MCU, Marvel Animated Universe (1980-90s to 2010s), The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes_** **animated series_, Comics,_**_ **hell even video games;**_ **all taken as possible future resources.**

**All of these together make up _"Earth-199919" (not to be confused with Earth-199999, which is the MCU)_. OR just call it _Earth-19-19_, whichever you prefer.**

**With that cleared up, on to the story.**

* * *

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**"Kurama/Iron Man"**

_"J.A.R.V.I.S./Television"_

**_"Intercom/Communicator"_**

_"Dialect Language"_

* * *

**Chapter 01: Mayhem at the Tower, A Ninja Meets Heroes**

* * *

**_Avengers Tower - Med Bay_**

With a _swish_, the door to the medical section of the tower opened, and Captain America stepped through. "How's our...guest, Tony?" He asked, taking in the scene in front of him. The beeping from the heart monitor echoed through the room as a few cables were hooked up to the unconscious blond laying on the table, tracking the status of his vitals. His chest was wrapped up while an oxygen mask was placed over his mouth.

Standing at his side with a holo-screen in front of him was Tony, a heavy frown on his face.

"Good news is, I managed to stop the bleeding and stabilize the wound just enough to give us more time. According to the scans, something pierced through the kid's chest, going all the way through the back. Luckily his heart wasn't damaged, merely getting nicked at best, right at the edge. The bad news, however, is that that was the only issue I could fix. Scanners show that nearly all his internal organs have been burnt by some sort of electrical wave. Not enough to burn them to a crisp, but enough to do some serious damage." He looked at Steve, his expression deepening. "The kid's dying, that much is obvious, and there is nothing I can do on my end. He needs emergency surgery, even possibly _several_ organ transplants, and fast."

Frowning, Steve looked at the dying child, his clenched fists shaking. What could have happened to him to put him in such a state?

"I've already contacted the nearest hospital and told them to get a room ready. We just need to take the kid there as gently as possible so we don't make things worse." Tony said, moving to the heart monitor.

"Can't the surgery be done at the tower?" Cap asked, getting a head shake.

"Sadly no. I haven't equipped the tower with any serious medical tools for intense surgery like this. Never thought something as serious as this would happen." Tony explained. Suddenly, the tower's A.I. spoke up.

_"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but my scanners also detected strange energy radiating from within the boy."_ J.A.R.V.I.S. stated. A holo-screen popped up, showing an x-ray image of the kid with glowing blue lines inside him. _"The energy seems to be flowing in some sort of pattern, similar to a circulatory system. However, it appears to be damaged."_ A red square appeared in the center of the image body's chest, right where the hole was on the kid and showed the lines there cut apart. _"The energy seems to be_ leaking_, and the more that is escaping, the more the patient's health is dropping."_ As stated, the kid's heart rate was slowly beginning to drop.

"What?!" Tony shouted. "Damn it! Don't tell me that energy is the kid's life support or something! I don't have anything that can help with that! Much less the hospital!"

"Don't you have some kind of invention to help?" Steve asked with a tone of urgency with the risk of a young boy's health on the line.

"Not for something like this! Most of my available inventions were made to contain energy in a generator or gamma radiation in a container, but not contain energy in a human body that is _part_ of the person's innards. And I don't have time to figure out how to build it!" Tony exclaimed, trying to rack his brain for a solution.

_"Not only that, sir, but I have also detected a secondary energy source within the patient."_ Tony and Steve raised their brows at that. _"However, it does not seem to follow the circulatory system like the first, and instead seems to resonate from his abdomen. It is also giving off a large energy signature. Easily triple the amount than the first, or perhaps more."_

Tony groaned, pinching his temple. Seriously?! _Two_ energy signatures in the same body? Who the hell was this kid? Steve hummed, looking at the unconscious blond.

Yet another question…

_"That is not all, sir."_

Tony groaned. "What else?"

_"As the first energy decreases, the secondary energy seems to be rapidly increasing in power, along with showing signs of instability, fluctuating every second. Running simulations, I predict that once the patient runs completely out of the primary energy, the secondary energy may burst out in an explosion, similar to a bomb. With the range possibly taking one-third of New York. If not more."_

With a loud slap, Tony facepalmed. "Are you fucking kidding me?! You mean to tell me that not only does this kid have TWO energy signatures inside of him...HE'S SOME KIND OF LIVING BOMB?!" He shouted in disbelief. What the hell landed on his tower?!

Steve cupped his chin in thought, staring at the young man. "J.A.R.V.I.S., is there a way to prevent the explosion?" He asked the A.I.

_"I estimate that if the primary energy leakage is stopped, both energies should stabilize."_

"Should?" Tony asked, skeptical. He didn't like the word 'should'. He liked _facts_ being 100% certain. Especially in stressful situations like this!

"Then we need something to stop that leak." Steve stated. Tony sighed, rubbing the back of his head. So he needed to find a way to stop the kid's energy from leaking before he blew the tower up, and a good chunk of New York, along with everyone in it. Not to mention keep him alive.

_Great...they were going to need a miracle._

"Perhaps I can be of assistance."

The two men tensed at the unfamiliar voice. Steve unstrapped his shield from his back, fastening it to his arm in a tight hold - all in a blink of an eye - while from the ceiling, repulsor gauntlets fell down from a hatch, connecting to Tony's hands; repulsors glowing at the ready. Standing back to back, the two men looked around for the intruder.

They didn't have to look far, as, in a flash of light, a sort of ring of energy appeared in the air before them, becoming a portal of some sort. From it, Stephen Strange, or to most of either medical or magical knowledge, **Doctor Strange**, walked into the room. He instantly became the target of Tony's repulsor as Cap got in a guarded stance. Strange held up his hands. "Please, calm yourselves. I mean you no harm."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Tony sarcastically said. "Who the hell are you?" He demanded.

"My name is Dr. Stephen Strange."

Tony raised a brow at him. "The famous neurosurgeon?"

"_Former_ neurosurgeon." Strange corrected. "That life is behind me. I am now the Sorcerer Supreme. Master of the Mystic Arts. Protector of the Earth and Universe."

Tony scoffed. "Yeah...that last part's kinda taken, pal. Well, at least the _Earth_ part."

"Why are you here?" Steve asked.

"For him." Strange said, pointing at the blond on the table. Tony immediately got between the two, repulsors humming.

"You're not going to hurt him, _Doctor._" He warned. He didn't know this man, so Ph.D. or not, Tony's ready to start blasting until he got some answers.

"I'm not going to hurt him. I want to _help_ him. I might be able to stop the energy build up and prevent the explosion."

"I'm sorry, were you spying on us?" Tony asked, glaring at the coat-wearing man.

"No, I could sense the massive energy from a mile away from when he first appeared through the portal into our dimension." Strange explained.

"Okay, now you're not making sense."

Steve, feeling some possible rise in tension, got between the two, interrupting them. "We can discuss this later." He stated, before turning to Strange. "Can you really help him?" Right now, if the doctor could help the young boy, Steve was willing to hear him out.

Strange nodded. "Yes I believe so, but first I need to study him. If you'll let me." He said. Steve looked at him for a while, before turning to Tony and nodding, telling him to allow the doctor to do it. With a sigh, Tony reluctantly powered down his repulsors. Stepping aside, the two watched the doctor as he approached the young blond, keeping a close eye on him for anything fishy.

Strange frowned at the state the boy was in. _'These injuries do not seem to be caused by his travel through dimensions, surprisingly. It was caused by something else. I dread to know what the cause was. But I can worry about that later, as well as how he managed to survive the trip.'_ Closing his eyes, he concentrated, holding his hands over the body as he sensed the boy's energy. His temple tensed as he got a mental image of his insides. _'It seems his energy circulatory pathway has been cut at his chest. Given the shape of the hole and damage range, something pierced him, but not from a blade. A hand. A fist, coated in dark energy. Curious. And given the dark energy residue on his back matching the front and the amount, it was multiple times, cleanly through, by the same person. What have you gone through, child?'_ He thought, before focusing his attention to the boy's stomach. _'I sense a large dark energy source emanating from here. As well as a soul. Truly curious.'_ Opening his eyes, he moved a hand over the boy's unclothed stomach, where he and the others watched as some sort of design appeared. A swirl, looking like it was written in black ink, with symbols around it.

"What is that?" Steve asked.

"It appears to be some sort of seal. I recognize the writing being similar to a Japanese Kanji matrix. Though the lettering katakana seem to be of an old form dating back centuries to ancient Japan." Stephen explained while Tony had J.A.R.V.I.S. take a photo of the design for later study. "From what I can sense, it seems to be designed to hold in the secondary energy."

"And what is this, _secondary energy_? Why does the kid have two?" Tony asked.

"That's what I'm about to find out." Strange said, and moving to the patient's topside, he placed his hands on the sides of the boy's head. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on linking his mind with the boy's own.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

**_Naruto's Mindscape_**

Opening his eyes, Strange honestly did not think he would find himself in a sewer. Frowning he looked around, gazing at the sick yellow color illuminating the chamber, the concrete walls, pipes of different sizes running across them, the dark shadows above his head, and knee-high 'water' around his legs and coat. "For the child's mind, the representation of his emotions, to take such an image...what sort of life could he have lived?" A person's mindscape reflected on that person's psyche and inner feelings. So to have this be one's mindscape was troubling. Resolving to find explanations later, he levitated out of the water, his coat and shoes drying instantly, and looked around, before beginning to head down the hallway. He had to find the source of the boy's second energy and the location of the second soul, and fast. He frowned as he saw the yellow color begin to slowly go darker by the second. Meaning he did not have long before the boy's death.

As he moved, his frown deepened as he sensed great sorrow and sadness in the air. It nearly choked him with the amount. _'For there to be so much, he must have lived a terrible life. I can only sense a small amount of happiness and joy. While not a speck, it pales in comparison to the negativity. Could the boy perhaps be an orphan? It would explain the expansion of sadness. And if so, for how long? For this amount...years perhaps?'_ As he continued on, he narrowed his eyes. He swore he could feel someone was watching him, but glancing around, he saw no one, with not much area for anyone or anything to hide. Narrowing his eyes, he kept his guard up as he kept moving.

He soon came upon a split in the hall, one to his left, and one to his right. The one on the left kept the smooth concrete walls and pipes, with said pipes becoming larger in size. Meanwhile, on the right, he could see what looked like doors.

However, neither direction looked good. On the right, he could sense the biggest amount of sadness and despair, with some small evidence of positivity. On the left, he could sense the large dark energy he sensed before. It almost felt demonic, but not quite. It was strong and full of rage and negativity that it almost choked him.

He looked back at the right path. _'If I'm right, this leads to the boy's memories. I could get some answers. However, I mustn't intrude on his privacy until I get permission. Even with all this negativity...I can sense the boy has a pure heart. Though it's strange. It almost feels like his positive and negative emotions are split from each other, with the positive being dominant in the heart. Just who or what is this child?'_ He asked, before turning to the left, eyes narrowing.

He could get answers later. For now, he must meet the _second_ soul he sensed in the boy.

Walking down the hall, he fought through the dense energy as it attempted to drown and suffocate him. He would almost compare it to that of Dormammu's presence. And that worried him.

_'How could a boy hold back such a creature? The amount of willpower needed...and for one so young...'_

Soon, Strange found himself standing in front of a massive set of bar gates, with a sheet of paper in the middle, the kanji for _"Seal" (__シール)_ in between the meeting bars. Strange hummed, staring at the paper. "Interesting. To be able to seal such a powerful creature into a human body. Only the most skilled of sorcerers are capable of such a feat with objects. I don't know whether to be impressed or worried at such mastery and craft." Strange said, watching calmly as a massive pair of blood-red eyes snapped open from the darkness of the cage, glaring at him. The light from the room suddenly grew brighter, illuminating the cage, revealing a massive nine-tailed fox, reminding Strange of a kitsune of Japanese mythology.

**_"Anatahadaredesu ka, watashi no fune ni shin'nyū shite watashi ni mukaimasu ka?!" / ("Who are you mortal, to intrude upon my vessel and face me?!")_**

Strange hummed as the creature spoke, recognizing its language being Japanese, or at the least similar to it but with a deeper root accent, not like today's cultural accents. He also felt the amount of negativity emitting from the beast crash down on him, nearly making him kneel, but he held strong. Clearing his throat, Strange spoke. _"My name is Dr. Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. I demand to know the name of the spirit that inhabits this boy's body."_ Strange demanded, using magic to translate his words so the fox would understand him.

The fox growled, narrowing its eyes in a fierce glare at the human. **_"I do not understand your title, nor do I care. You dare stand before the Kyuubi no Kitsune, strongest of the Biju?! This boy is my vessel and possession to do with as I see fit! Leave my sight, before I consume your soul!"_**

Strange narrowed his eyes at the fox. _"Your threats do not scare me, Kyuubi no Kitsune. I can sense that this seal holds back your influence and power, as well as tie your soul to the boy. With the boy on death's row, you dare not insure anything happens to him to hasten the process."_ He stated, making Kyuubi growl in anger, knowing it was true. _"I demand answers as to how you are sealed in the boy, as well as how you arrived in this dimension and what you are. You are no mere demon, that much I can sense."_

Kyuubi growled at him, glaring at Strange with such intensity as if to make him burst into flames from his glare. **_"And Pray Tell, why should I speak? While it is true that if the boy dies, I do as well, I am a construct of living energy. I can never truly be vanquished! I will reform again in time! Free of my prison!"_** Kyuubi announced with a brag, a dark and deadly smirk on his face.

Stephen stares with narrowed eyes at the fox, before smirking. _"Your lies will not work on me, Kyuubi."_ He stated, making Kyuubi growl again. _"I may not know the full mechanics of this seal, but I know enough to know that the binding between you and the boy is firm and tight. Whatever afterlife the boy is sent to...you are taken as well."_ He taunted, getting the fox to grit his teeth in anger. _'Luckily for you, I cannot allow this boy to die. Both through my oath as a doctor, former or not, and with the threat of what will happen should this boy die. Now, will you provide me with the necessary knowledge I need to save the boy?" _Strange asked, before narrowing his eyes. He turned around, gazing into the shadows in the chamber. _"Or perhaps...I'm speaking to the wrong person."_

From the shadows, two figures stepped out.

The first was a man, who bared a strong resemblance to the boy with his spiky yellow blond hair reaching his shoulders with two bangs framing the sides of his face, fierce blue eyes as sharp as a blade, and a bandana wrapped around his forehead with a metal plate. The man wore dark blue pants with the ends wrapped tightly in what looked like medical tape as well as around above his right knee with a thin pouch strapped on the side, open-toed sandals, a dark blue undershirt with a high collar, what looked like an army-like green vest, and finally a long white coat with red flames at the bottom.

Beside him was a woman with long red hair reaching her waist, fair skin, and violet eyes. She wore a high-collared, sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress with a wristband on her left wrist and sandals similar to the man's own. Gazing at her face, Strange noticed some similarities to the boy's own features.

He had an idea of the identities of the two, and it only brought on more questions.

**_"YONDAIME! KUSHINA! YOU TWO DARE APPEAR BEFORE ME!" _**Kyuubi roared in anger at the sight of the two, slamming his head against the gates in an attempt to break free and attack the ones responsible for his current imprisonment. **_"I WILL TEAR YOU BOTH TO SHREDS!"_**

The blond man glared at the fox. _"Be silent, Kyuubi! I am not in the mood to hear your complaints and threats. More so, I demand to know why you are not healing Naruto!"_

Kyuubi glared at him, gritting his teeth. However, he will not give in to being ordered, and let the bastard figure out the answer himself!

The man met the fox's glare with his own while the woman looked at Strange, a frantic expression on her face. _"We heard what you said! Please! Can you really help our son?! Please, save him! Save Naruto! For some reason, he's not healing!"_

Strange looked at her, nodding softly. _"I will try, but I will need to understand the situation that brought this on, as well as the energy that is leaking out from him. Also, if I may learn your names."_

The woman frowned, nodding. _"Of course. My name is Uzumaki Kushina. I am the mother of Uzumaki Naruto."_

The male turned to the Sorcerer. _"I am Namikaze Minato, Naruto's father."_

Dr. Strange nodded in greeting. _"You may have heard, but just in case, I shall reintroduce myself. I am Doctor Stephen Strange. Now, while I am intrigued by how you two are able to implant your souls within your son, we can save that for another time. Now please, tell me what you can."_ Strange said. He will save his questions for when the boy - Naruto - is not dying.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

Opening his eyes, Strange exited the boy's mind - who he now knows is called Uzumaki Naruto, or in American ways, Naruto Uzumaki - after speaking with the boy's parents and being told what he needed. He learned about the boy's energy, _chakra_, only, unlike his planet's version, Naruto's - as well as his people - was the mixture of both spiritual and physical energies, combined together in perfect harmony. It acted as both the boy's power source and _life source_.

He also learned a bit about the Kyuubi - when ignoring the fox's shouting and threats - as well as the seal that bound it to its vessel. _Its prison_.

He also learned a bit about how the boy came to appear in their dimension. Of his battle against his own friend, his teammate, who attempted to desert his own home to go to a - in Kushina's words - _'pale-skinned, snake obsessed, pedophile' _for power.

It sorta reminded Strange of Mordo, and how the man betrayed their master to join Dormammu for power(1).

Anyway, apparently Naruto and his friend had clashed their strongest attacks against the other, and it seemed that the two immensely powerful attacks _literally _broke the space between reality, and formed a crack. A _miniature black hole_, as it was described - or more accurately, a tear in Time-Space, a _Temporal Split_ \- which sucked Naruto in.

But not before being pierced through the chest by a _'negatively charged lightning-element piercing attack'_.

Even being a Sorcerer Supreme with knowledge of the vast never-ending universes, _that _stumped Strange. Seriously, what kind of world taught kids stuff like that?

Anyway, he may have an idea of why the boy's natural healing was not working. It was because of the foreign dark energy Strange could sense in the hole on his chest. _Dark Chakra_. Or more so _'negative Chakra'_. It was fighting against Naruto's own _'positive chakra'_, like a virus or a parasite, and preventing the injury from being healed. A leech, pushing away Naruto's energy from the wound, stopping the only thing that can save him, and possibly aiding in killing him with its own toxicity.

Steve and Tony looked at him. "Well?" The genius inventor asked, somewhat impatiently.

Shaking his head to clear away his thoughts, Strange turned to them. He paused for a sec, thinking over a plan. After a moment, he nodded. "I might have an idea. It's risky, maybe even dangerous, but it might not only stabilize the boy's energy but also save his life."

Steve nodded. If it will save the kid's life, he was in. "What do you need?"

"That." Strange pointed at Tony's chest, making the man look down at it with a confused look.

"My Arc Reactor?"

The sorcerer nodded. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you use your Arc Reactor to keep the metal shards within you from getting to your heart, as well as attach it to your Nervous System and Endocrine System as to power your body and give it energy. Correct?" He asked, getting a nod from the surprised and impressed Tony. "If we implant a Reactor into the boy's chest, directly in his wound, and connect it to his energy circulatory system, his _'Chakra Pathways'_ as it is called, it should stabilize his energy to normal levels and keep him alive."

"Again with 'should'. Why can't it be 100% guaranteed?" Tony complained.

"We are dealing with something not of this world or dimension, in a limited time before a large blast wipes out a good chunk of New York. We have no choice but to rush things with limited knowledge." Strange said.

Steven nodded. "Agreed." He turned to Tony. "So, can you?"

Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It's...possible. It's a shot, but maybe. The only problem is that I don't have any other Arc Reactor replacement. Anything else is just batteries for my armors."

"Think Tony. You don't have _any_ lying around?" Steve urged. Tony crossed his arms in thought, racking his brain. He then remembered a certain gift from Pepper he had in his room.

"I might have something. It's a bit dated, but it should-_will_ work." He stated. Steve nodded before the inventor went to get it. Left alone, Steve looked at Strange.

"Anything about the kid you can tell us?" He asked, curious about their _guest_.

"Not much that wouldn't cross his privacy. What I can reveal is that he is a unique boy. A visitor from another world. _Another dimension_. Far from home, taken against his will to a land thought impossible by his people, with no current known way of returning. Granted a curse not many would desire, but wielding a heart of light in a sea of sorrow." Strange stated mysteriously.

Captain America stayed silent, thinking over his words. _'So he was cast from his home...like me. Dropped into what seems like an impossible world as well. Well, as the saying goes, kindred spirits aid one another. Once he wakes up, I'll see if I can help him. Wouldn't want him to be lost, like I was.'_

Soon Tony returned, holding an Arc Reactor in hand. Though it was different from the triangle one he currently had in his chest. An older model. Also, it had writing burned into the metal frame.

_"PROOF THAT TONY STARK HAS A HEART"_

"Before we do anything..." Tony began, pointing to the reactor. "This thing is _very _precious to me. It's the first miniature reactor I made. In a _cave _by the way. It's also a gift from my loving girlfriend, and saved my life." He listed.

Strange sighed. They were wasting time talking. "Your point, Stark?"

Tony glared at him. "My _point _is that I'm kinda reluctant to implant something so precious in someone I don't know. Trust me, I had people steal and misuse my technology before. How do I know the kid won't do the same?"

"Stark. I can understand your hesitation, but right now, you are the only hope this boy has. You can save him, and place your trust in him. This boy is far from his home. From possible family. From friends. He has no one in this world. If you wish, you may watch over him. Guide him if need be. But here and now, _you_ decide whether to save his life or not. What's it going to be?" Strange stated, staring at the genius inventor along with Steve.

Silent, Tony stared at the doctor, before his eyes moved toward the young blond on the table. Sighing, he finally nodded. He'll trust his possession with the kid, and keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't mistreat it. Luckily, he had changed the metal alloy of the reactor from Palladium so it wasn't poisonous to the kid's body like it was to him.

Strange nodded back. "Good. I shall speak to the souls within the boy, and let them know of what is happening. I will also enchant the reactor with my magic to ensure it works with the boy's energy and helps with healing him. In the meantime, you two prepare for surgery." Strange instructed. Steve nodded, while Tony blinked.

"Wait, what do you mean _souls_?" He asked, but was ignored as Strange once more entered Naruto's mind.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

**_Naruto's Mindscape_**

Kushina stood silent, a heavy frown on her face as she bit her thumb nervously. And why wouldn't she be nervous? Her baby boy was currently dying! She cursed Sasuke - _Sorry, Mikoto-chan! But she had to!_ \- for being suck a dumbass and putting her son in this situation!

Her son was _dying!_ Dying, in another dimension (according to that Strange guy), with a hole in his chest, and did she mention _dying!_

_HER BABY WAS **DYING**! He shouldn't be dying! He should be living a happy life! With a girlfriend or two! Working on making her grand-babies! Being an awesome shinobi eating bowls of ramen and kicking bad-guy ass! Maybe becoming Hokage!_

_NOT DYING AT THE AGE OF FIFTEEN, DATTEBANE!_

Kushina was close to going frantic as she thought over that fact more and more when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Raising her head, she looked at Minato, who gave her a comforting smile. "Kushina-chan, don't worry. Naruto is going to be alright." He told her.

Kushina frowned, before hugging her husband tightly. Minato frowned as he felt her shake, soft sobs being heard. "Why, Minato? Why did this have to happen to our baby boy?" She asked, tears sliding down her cheeks. It was bad enough Naruto had to be made a Jinchuuriki like her, and go through such a worse and horrible upbringing without the love of a parent and the hate of nearly a whole village, but now he could die at a young age! It wasn't fair!

Minato sadly did not have an answer for her. At least not one that would make her happy. He could only hold her tightly, silently watching as the light continued to grow dimmer by the minute, praying that Strange really could save Naruto. He also questioned why his son wasn't healing. With his Uzumaki blood, plus the Kyuubi's chakra, he shouldn't be in such a state. Even if he was only half Uzumaki. He had some theories but dreaded the truth. He also wondered about the status of the seal. Kyuubi was still locked up, thankfully, but with Naruto's damaged chakra network, could there be any other mess?

Kyuubi scoffed as he looked at the two before closing his eyes, resting his head on his paws/hands. However, while he wouldn't admit it, Kyuubi did hope the 'Sorcerer' did manage to save the brat. More so for his own survival than Naruto's. With the blasted seal, the threat of death was just as true for Kyuubi as for the boy.

Kyuubi will _not_ accept dying! Especially by an _Uchiha_'s hands!

**_'You better live through this, brat, or I will make sure you suffer forever in the afterlife!'_**

Feeling the water shifting, Kyuubi opened an eye, peered out of the cage, and spotted the so-called "Sorcerer Supreme" approaching. **_"You've returned. That's brave of you."_** Kyuubi growled, getting Minato and Kushina's attention as they turned to the chamber's entrance, spotting Strange.

_"I see you continue to speak as if you are a threat to me, beast." _Strange mocked, getting a growl in return.

_"Well?!" _Kushina demanded hopefully, wanting to know if her son's life really could be saved. Strange turned to the worried parents.

_"There is a way to save Naruto's life."_ He stated, making the two (as well as secretly Kyuubi) breath out in relief. _"The plan is to attach a device into your son. Right into the wound on his chest. If we can connect the device to the boy's chakra system, it can act as a sort of stabilizer, keeping his energy under control, as well as the Kyuubi's, while pushing away the attacking energy. I am unsure if he will be able to access it though, as the device will only work as a placeholder, and not really as a conduit. But it should keep him alive. In time, the boy's body should be able to fix the damage done, if what you say about your family's 'bloodline' and incredible healing is true, Mrs. Uzumaki."_

Minato and Kushina frowned, unsure about the fact their son will be unable to use his chakra, leaving him vulnerable to this new world. But if it kept him alive…

_'But can Uzumaki blood even heal damaged pathways?'_ Kushina thought, uncertain. She has never heard of severed pathways being stitched back together. Actually, she never heard of someone's pathways being severed in the first place. Could the famous Uzumaki healing even do that?

The parents of Naruto looked at one another, holding a conversation with their eyes. After a moment, they turned to Stephen.

_"What do you need?"_ Minato asked.

_"We need to somehow connect Naruto's pathways into the device. I should be able to do so, but with such a delicate procedure, we need to be extremely careful."_

**_"I can handle that."_** The voice of the Kyuubi grabbed their attention as adults turned to the fox.

_"You?"_ Kushina questioned cautiously, narrowing her eyes at her former Bijuu in suspicion. Kyuubi growled at her.

**_"I have no intention of dying. So if it means my survival, I will help the brat. This one time."_**

Minato and Stephen narrowed their eyes at the fox. While they were hesitant to trust the beast, more so Minato, but right now, they had no other choice.

_"Very well, beast. I shall let you know when the time comes."_ Strange said, getting a scoff from Kyuubi, who closed his eyes again.

_"Wait! What about Naruto's other damage?!"_ Kushina asked, referring to Naruto's inner burns.

_"I will use a time spell to reverse the damage done."_ Strange told her. Kushina blinked in surprise.

_"You can do that?! Why not reverse the damage done to his pathways then?!"_ She demanded.

Strange sighed. _"There can be...unknown consequences if two different energies conflict with one another. It would be too dangerous, especially for Naruto."_

Kushina frowned, nodding in acceptance.

Minato also frowned, getting a sudden thought. _"Where is Naruto anyway? Shouldn't he have appeared in the seal?"_ He asked, making Kushina's eyes widen. He was right! Naruto should have been brought to the seal as a failsafe! So, where was he?! Where was her baby?!

Strange frowned, having an idea on the boy's whereabouts.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

Darkness

Pitch black..._blackness_

There was no other way of explaining what he saw. Or rather, what he _couldn't_ see.

He literally couldn't see anything. He could barely see his own hand in front of his face.

_'I don't like this, dattebayo.'_ Naruto thought, narrowing his eyes. Crossing his arms, he kept calm for the moment. Wouldn't do to go into a panic. _Yet_. _'How did I get here? Okay Naruto, think. What's the last thing that happened? Let's see, I woke up because Shikamaru was knocking on my door. He said something about Sasuke and a mission….'_ Pausing, he frowned as he started remembering. _'That's right. Sasuke went stupid and decided to run away to Orochimaru for power. Shikamaru, Kiba & Akamaru, Chouji, Neji, and I went after him. The guys separated and fought Orochimaru's goons while I caught up to Sasuke and we fought. And...and...'_

_"Gah!" With a shout, blood shooting out, Naruto gritted his teeth as unimaginable pain coursed through his body as the lightning coated fist pierced right through his chest. The feeling of having electricity shock and burn his insides was unbearable._

His hand shot to his chest, gripping his jacket. He began breathing heavily, remembering what happened. _'Oh yeah. I...I...'_ He bit his bottom lip, recalling feeling nothing but pain, a flash of light, and seeing what looked like two beautiful women that could only be angels before he passed out. And now he was here, in...some place dark and empty. Meaning...meaning...

He shook his head. _'Okay, don't panic. Don't panic! I might still be alive and just in my mindscape. Though I don't remember it being this dark last time I was here. Is this one of Kyuubi's tricks?'_ He wouldn't put it past Kyuubi to fuck with him when it could.

Looking around once more, he thought about how to get out of this darkness. _'Baa-chan must be scared out of her mind at my state. Or pissed off that I got myself really messed up.' _As he looked around, he stopped, as squinting his eyes, he swore there was something in the darkness ahead of him. _'What is that?'_

Curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto started approaching whatever it was he saw. He had nothing better to do than that. However, as he was getting closer, he began to get a clearer view of what it was, and what he saw made him raise a brow.

In front of him, pushing away the darkness, was a lit burning campfire, illuminating a small piece of the darkness, revealing the dirt ground under him he could not see before.

_However, that wasn't the only thing he saw._

Sitting in front of the fire, was a person. A figure. Sitting on one of the two placed logs to sit on. Their features completely obscured by a dark violet cloak as they sat facing the flames, still as a statue.

"Um...hello?" Naruto asked with uncertainty as he stepped closer, stopping before them. The figure turned their head towards him, their face completely hidden in the darkness of their hood, before turning back to the fire silently. Naruto frowned, rubbing the back of his head, unsure of what to do. Looking at the empty log, he sat on it in front of the fire, opposite to the silent figure. He watched them continue to seemingly stare at the fire, not moving an inch or pay him any attention. As they sat there in silence, Naruto was beginning to grow impatient. "Where am I?" He asked.

"..."

"Who are you?"

"..."

"Hello?" He called, his brow twitching in growing annoyance at being ignored.

"..."

"ANSWER ME, DATTEBAYO!" He shouted, standing up. His chest puffed as he huffed, hands clenching as he stood glaring at the figure, who didn't even show any reaction to his shouting. Their hooded head raised slightly up to him, before lifting an arm toward him. From the end of the sleeve, something dropped down, dangling on a string. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw it was his necklace. The one Tsunade gave him after winning their bet.

"Where did you get that?" He asked, a slight stutter in his voice. He hadn't realized that he didn't wake up with it, and had assumed he lost it during his fight with Sasuke.

The robed figure was silent, still holding the necklace out to him. Wordlessly, he reached out and grabbed it. He held the necklace in his hand as the person pulled their arm back, before going back to staring at the fire. Naruto looked down at the necklace, feeling the surprisingly warm crystal in his palm. However, he noticed something. No longer was the crystal a turquoise color. Instead, it was now midnight black. He raised a brow at that, wondering if his use of Kyuubi's chakra could have caused this change.

He looked at the mysterious person, before sighing and sat back down on the log, placing the necklace around his neck. "Can you tell me where I am?"

"..."

"Can you tell me _anything_?" He almost begged, wanting an answer or something.

"..." The robbed figure 'looked' at him, before raising an arm at him. He blinked in confusion before his eyes widened when from the sleeve, a hand came out.

_A skeletal hand._

Index finger pointed, the tip touched his chest. "Wha?" He asked as his body started to glow. He looked back at the person. "Hey! What's happening?! What's going on?!"

**"Until we meet again, Uzumaki Naruto."**

That was the last thing he heard, before he vanished from the void, leaving behind the robbed person, who went back to staring at the fire.

**"Yes, until we meet again...Child of Prophecy."**

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

With everything sorted out, they got things ready. Tony called his personal medical staff on pay to do the reactor implant surgery after Strange used whatever mumbo jumbo he did to fix the kid's insides, not offering an explanation on how he did it, much to Tony's annoyance. He had the necessary equipment shipped over to do the surgery to implant the reactor at the tower so they didn't have to move the boy.

Tony and Steve had to wait with the others outside the room while the doctors worked.

"Would someone explain to me what is going on?!" Janet demanded, before pointing at Strange who was with them. "And who is this?!"

Stephen nodded to her in greeting. "Dr. Stephen Strange." He introduced himself. He had to wait for the operators to safely implant the reactor into Naruto before he did his part.

"The famous neurosurgeon? Didn't you go missing after an accident?" Hank asked, looking at the man in surprise, while also wondering when and how he arrived at the tower, as he came out of the room with Steve and Tony.

Steve cut in. "It's a long story. Just know that Dr. Strange here is helping ensure the boy in the room is healed up."

Natasha looked at the ancient soldier. "Did you find out anything about him?"

Thor nodded. "Aye, such as the scoundrel that dared to harm a child to such an extent?" His body sparked in his anger. His hammer sought to vanquish the life of the monster who has decided to bring such pain to a child!

Captain America looked at Stephen, who decided to explain. "Not much information was given, but what was may prove useful. The boy's name is Naruto Uzumaki."

Carol blinked, tapping her chin. "Naruto? Sounds Korean or Japanese, though he doesn't look like it." His appearance was more Caucasian than Japanese.

Strange nodded. "It would appear the boy has come from a dimension far from here. He was transported here by accident through a rip in space-time after engaging in combat with a traitorous comrade of his."

"Another dimension? Really?" Janet asked, skeptical as she crossed her arms.

Strange smirked at her. "You are in a team with a God of Thunder from Norse mythology and a soldier from World War II, and you find my words skeptical?" He asked humorously as Thor nodded in agreement. Janet blushed lightly at the reminder, conceding.

"Yet I do not recognize the clothing the boy wears from any of the Nine Realms." Thor stated.

"That is because the boy comes from a world far from our circle of realms and realities. It is by either a miracle or the will of some cosmic entity that he was able to survive the trip all the way here." Strange stated. Seeing the looks he was getting, he explained. "Traveling through dimensions is not safe for any traveler or being. Not without the proper defense. The only way to travel between spaces of reality is by going through the gaps between dimensions. However, going through them is practically suicide, as your body would not be able to handle the stress. Imagine going at sonic speed without any protection or clothing. Your body would be unable to handle it and at worst, get broken down into atoms."

The group flinched while Hank rubbed his chin. "Fascinating" He muttered, getting elbowed by Janet.

"The fact that young Naruto managed to come through the wormhole in one piece, let alone alive, is beyond lucky." Strange said.

Tony shook his head. "Not that this science talk isn't fun or anything, but I would just like to point out that I found these on his person." He said, holding out a kunai blade and shuriken he found in the pouches among the kid's stuff.

Clint raised a brow at them, recognizing them. "Is that a kunai and shuriken?"

Tony nodded. "Yep, ninja weapons. And very durable ones. Not of cheap metal most would find in Japan's gift shops. My scanners tell me that the metal is unlike anything blacksmiths in Japan use. Nor does the texture match anything found today. It's different from our iron or steel. A completely unknown element all together"

"They are also tools for killing." Natasha said, narrowing her eyes. "Which could only mean..."

"He's a child soldier." Steve said, frowning.

"Which adds another point to the kid being from another world or time, considering that ninja became extinct in the 17th Century after the unification of Japan along with samurai." Tony said. Strange nodded. He had been told a brief history from Minato about their homeworld and has noted the similarities between it and Japan's Sengoku Period back in the 15th Century.

"My god." Janet muttered. She absolutely loathes places that still use children as soldiers of war. Children should be enjoying their childhood playing games and having fun. _Not_ training to kill people!

"So what should we do?" Clint asked, looking at everyone.

"First we wait for the kid to get fixed up and rested. When he wakes up, we can see about getting answers. After that, we can figure out what to do next." Tony suggested. Everyone nodded at that. "Now, how about everyone go rest. We could use it after this little event."

Everyone agreed before they began to head to their rooms. With everyone gone, only Tony, Steve, and Strange remained.

"I must return to my sanctuary after I do my part. If the boy should awaken..." Holding out a hand, a card appeared between Strange's fingers. He handed it to Steve. "Call me immediately." He stated, before entering the operating room to see the status.

"Bit of the serious type, isn't he?" Steve commented, looking at Tony, who seemed to be in thought. "Something on your mind, Tony?"

"More like _someone_. I bet my near limitless fortune that a certain one-eyed director caught wind of the portal opening and energy source that shot out of the kid, and will no doubt be investigating. If Fury learns that the kid is from another dimension, and holds such high energies, I shudder to think of what he'll do. That is, if a certain Black Widow hasn't told him already." He said, narrowing his eyes. While he trusted Natasha as a teammate, her loyalty as a secret agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was another matter.

Meanwhile, with said spy, she was moving towards her assigned room, lost in thought. Her mind went back to the mysterious boy. Her elite spy-trained mind went wild with questions. Who was he? Where did he come from? Was he really a child soldier, and if so, of what affiliation? Was he truly from another dimension? What was that strange pulse of energy that shot out of him? And more importantly…

_Was he dangerous?_

She frowned, wondering if she should contact Fury about this…if he didn't know already.

"Natasha!"

Blinking, Natasha stopped walking, glancing over her shoulder where she spotted Janet approaching her. "Hey!" The petite woman said, hand up. "I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"It's about what that kid said. Do you remember? When he first landed. He said something I was curious about. Ten-see?"

"_Tenshi_" Natasha corrected, making Janet nod.

"Yeah! That! Do you know what it means? You know, being a top-secret agent and all."

"It's Japanese for 'angel'." Natasha said, before continuing on to her room, leaving Janet who blinked before gigging.

"Angel? Hehehe! How cute!"

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

**_Time Skip_**

Again, all he could see was darkness, but this time, it was followed by something else.

Something he absolutely loathed.

His ears twitched as the sound of beeps reached them.

Then his nose picked up the scent of rubber and cleaning chemicals.

Which could only mean one thing…

_Hospital_

_He...**hated** hospitals. To the deepest pits of his soul. _Not only because of his crappy childhood but also because of his greatest fear.

_…_

Okay, **2nd** greatest fear. Needles. Yes, Uzumaki Naruto, the guy who once stabbed a kunai to a wound on his hand - which was coated with _poison_ \- as well as stabbed a kunai into the _backend_ of an out of control sand-covered jinchuuriki, was scared of needles.

Call him childish, but...fuck you.

He also hated the smell of hospitals, it always made him sneeze. Seriously, how much of the stuff do they use?

Anyway, while loathsome, the smell was something he was happy for. What's more, that as his eyes twitched and slowly opened, he was nearly blinded by a bright light.

_Yep, definitely a hospital._

Cringing, he moved his arm to shield his eyes, only to feel a slight tug from something on it. Opening his eyes fully, he glared at the bright lights above him. Sparing a hard glare at them, wishing they would explode, Naruto looked around. That's when he noticed something strange.

For one, the walls were _metal_, colored a soft dark greyish blue, not the familiar white concrete he was used to. Walls of dark blue metal plates surrounded him. Second, were the strange technological additions alongside the heart monitor beside him. He raised a brow at what looked like a large television screen on the wall in front of him.

_'Okay...definitely not in Konoha.' _Being the strongest of the main villages, Konoha was _slightly _more technologically advanced than the others, but not THIS much. They had televisions, radios, power plants, and movie theaters, sure.

But that's it.

And their metal supplies weren't enough to build anything big besides bunkers and ANBU and Hokage Headquarters.

_He should know, having infiltrated into them enough times as a kid for pranks._

_'But I don't recognize this place.'_ He thought, narrowing his eyes. Was he captured? By Orochimaru? Or some other village?

_Or by someone unknown._

He moved to sit up, before wincing as pain shot through his chest. His hand shot to grip his chest where the pain was the strongest when his hand made contact with something metallic. Eyes cringing in confusion, he sat up fully, pushing through the pain, and looked down, the bedsheet over him falling down.

_'What the hell, dattebayo?!'_ He mentally shouted when he saw a metal..._something_ attached to the middle of his chest. It looked like a circular-shaped plate with a light shining brightly from it and small, thin metal lines coming off it attached to his skin, of which had a rather long scar going over horizontally where his heart, a leftover from Sasuke's Chidori piercing his chest. Twice. (2)

He also got his _neck _broken by the bastard - damn bastard piledrove him into the hard stone ground of the V.O.T.E. - but he focused on the other two near-death moments.

He also had another scar, this one larger, going vertically down his chest, looking to be stitched together, going under the metallic thing, and back out the other side.

_'What is this?'_ He questioned, gripping the thing. He tugged it, seeing if he could take it off, before gasping as _untold_ amounts of pain coursed through him. "Gah!" He hunched over, gritting his teeth as he gripped the bedsheet, trying to push the pain away. Luckily, after a while, the pain passed, leaving him gasping for breath. _'What the hell was that?!'_ He mentally demanded.

His mind flashed back to his mission in the Land of Snow when he was captured and had a device strapped to his chest that kept him from using chakra. Was this something similar?

_Which meant that he was a prisoner._

He narrowed his eyes in a glare. Uzumaki Naruto was no one's prisoner! He proved so as he yanked the IV cable out of his arm, making the heart monitor sound the alarm. Ignoring it, he pushed the covers off him and saw that he only had his boxers on. Wondering where his clothes were, especially his jacket and tool pouches, he shook his head to dismiss it for now. Getting up sluggishly from the bed, holding the side railing to not fall, he gripped his chest as every movement was painful yet he pushed on. He was on his feet when he jumped as a sudden voice sounded.

_"Sir, I must ask you to please return to bed while I notify Mr. Stark of your awakening."_ The A.I. of the tower said.

Unfortunately for the computer, Naruto could not understand what it was saying. _"What?!"_ He asked, looking around for the voice. Getting in a guarded stance, he narrowed his eyes as he glanced around. _"Who's there?! Where am I?!"_ He demanded.

_"Sensors indicate your stress levels are rising. Would you like a beverage brought to you?"_ Jarvis asked.

Scowling, Naruto decided to ignore the voice, and instead focus on getting out of wherever he was. He looked at what he assumed was a door. He didn't see a handle or grip to open it. There was a weird box thing on the wall beside it but didn't know what it was, so he left it alone. He shouldn't risk setting off an alarm or something. Focusing back on the door, he smirked. Nothing a Rasengan couldn't break down. Holding out his hand, he started gathering chakra to his hand and-

_"GAAAH!" _With a startled and pain-filled cry, he canceled the process, gripping his chest tightly as he dropped to a knee. His insides felt like they were on fire, while his chest felt like someone stabbed it with a kunai and moved it around his insides! Hunched over with a hand on the cold floor to keep himself up, he breathed heavily. _"Chikushō! (Damn it!)"_ He shouted in anger. He should have known this stupid thing in his chest would mess up his chakra! Glaring, he got back up.

_"Sir, please return to your bed. I have alerted Mr. Stark and he is currently on his way."_

Ignoring the nonsense the voice was sprouting about, Naruto stared at the metal door. _"Guess we have to do this the old fashioned way." _He muttered before charging at the door.

_THUD!_

_THUD!_

_THUD!_

He punched against the metal frame as hard as he could, leaving small dents on it. He also slammed his shoulder against it. _"Let me out!"_ He yelled as he slammed his shoulder against the metal door as hard as he could. However, no matter how hard he slammed against it, the stupid thing wouldn't break down! Growling, he stepped back, looking around for another way out.

While he may have not paid much attention to all of his classes in the academy, there _were_ some he actually did.

_Such as on what to do when you find yourself captured by an enemy and need to figure out how to escape._

_'Okay, like Iruka-sensei said: take in your surroundings and look for ways to escape._

He soon found it, when he spotted a vent at the top of the sidewall, near the ceiling. Smirking at the sight of it, ran straight towards the wall. Once close, he placed his foot against the surface, before kicking himself upward. Leaping upwards, he stretched his arm out, fingers moving into the opening holes, and grasped the metal plate. Gravity pulled him downward, he quickly ripped the plate off the wall and threw it over his shoulder, while his other hand grabbed the edge of the vent.

Hanging off the edge, only a couple of feet off the ground, Naruto grinned as he pulled himself up into the vent, though he had some slight sluggishness as he felt very weak. Still, he managed to climb into the tight space, smirking at his luck at the vent being big enough to let a person crawl through - or at his short stature, being enough to fit in, not that he would ever admit that part. HE WASN'T SHORT! Once inside the vent, Naruto proceeded to crawl down the metal space, groaning as his body ached all the while, but ignoring it, he pushed on forth, focusing on escaping.

No less than a minute later, the doors to the infirmary swooshed open, as Tony walked in. Seeing that their 'guest' was missing, Tony groaned. "Great. Just great. How the hell is the kid up and about already?! It's only been a few days since his operation! He shouldn't be walking around for at least another week! Jarvis, where's the kid?"

_"I'm afraid you just missed him, sir. He had just escaped through the vents."_ The A.I. stated, making Tony curse.

"Damn it! I'll have to notify everyone to search for him. Who knows what's going through the kid's mind right now." Sighing, Tony turned and left the med-bay, contacting the other Avengers and alerting them of the situation.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

**_Naruto's POV_**

_"Don't these people clean their vents?"_ Naruto grumbled as he crawled through the dusty metal way. He needed to figure out where he was, and a way to contact Konoha. Hopefully, he wasn't somewhere _too _far from familiar land. Being unable to summon the toads at the moment, he was on his own.

Coming upon a fork, he looked down both paths, with a hum he wondered where he should go. However, before he could decide, he heard something from down the right. Turning to the direction, he tilted his head, trying to hear what the sound was.

It sounded like...voices. However, they sounded muffled. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto began to go down the right way towards the voices. Hopefully, he could find out where he was. Soon enough he came upon a vent hatch. Getting near it, he looked down the hatch. Down below, he saw two men standing in a hall.

One was a man with short light brown hair wearing purple lensed glasses, wearing a violet and grey outfit with a quiver full of arrows strapped to his back.

The other man wore what looked like chainmail armor under a black chest-plate with six silver disk-like things on his chest. He looked to be pretty muscular, evidenced by his large arms under the chain armor. He also had a long red cape behind him, a helmet covering the top and sides of his head with _wings_ on the sides, and finally, gripped in his hand, was a pretty big stone hammer with a short handle, a leather strap at the end. He had long light blond hair flowing down to his shoulders under his helmet and blue eyes from what he could see from his angle.

_'Who are these guys?' _Naruto thought, raising a brow. _'They don't look like any regular ninja.'_ Shaking his head, he focused back on the task at hand. Like Kakashi-sensei always said, _'Look underneath the underneath'_. Gazing down at the men, they seemed to be in a conversation. Unfortunately, Naruto couldn't understand what they were saying. Were they speaking in code? _'Great, just great.'_ He thought with a groan. First the disembodied voice, and now this. Hopefully, not everyone spoke in the weird code. Looking back at the men, he tried to find any headbands or sign of what village he was at, but unfortunately, he couldn't spot any. _'And I don't know anywhere with clothes like theirs. Seriously, where in Kami's name am I?'_

Just then, he saw the men move out of sight, heading off somewhere. After a moment, waiting to see if anyone else would appear and seeing no one, Naruto moved the vent hatch out of the way and silently dropped down into the hallway. Keeping low, Naruto looked around for any sign or sound of anyone approaching. Luckily all was silent. So standing up, he slowly moved down the hall, keeping his steps silent and breathing low like he was taught in the academy.

Reaching a corner, Naruto pressed himself against the wall, nudging slightly enough to peek around the corner into the other hall. Seeing no one, he frowned, feeling both confused and cautious. Wherever he was, there didn't seem to be a lot of people. He'd expected to see guards everywhere.

He also cursed the fact that he couldn't see any windows around. "I've got to find a way out." He muttered. He glared down at the device on his chest. If he could use his chakra he could just Rasengan his way out! "As Shikamaru would say...Troublesome." He grumbled before the shirtless blond slowly began making his way down the hall.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

**_Meanwhile in Naruto's Mindscape_**

"Naruto! You need to calm down! These people are not going to hurt you, dattebane! Naruto!" Kushina shouted, frowning as she and Minato gazed at the image floating in front of them, showing Naruto's perspective, watching as he snuck around - what looked like - the base of his saviors, not that their son currently knew that fact. Groaning, Kushina turned to her husband. "Why can't he hear me, Minato?!"

Minato frowned, keeping his gaze on the "screen", watching as Naruto continued sneaking around and avoiding any possible figures. He cupped his chin in thought. "If I had to guess, Sasuke's attack may have indeed caused damage to the seal. Nothing that could break Kyuubi free, but it seems that Naruto doesn't have connection with his mindscape. At least, not in terms of communication."

Kushina frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Minato frowned, turning to her. "I mean that Naruto can't hear us or Kyuubi from the seal. So we can't talk to him. Not unless he comes here."

Kushina frowned, worried. "But if he can't hear us...or understand what those people are saying if Strange was right about the difference in the language, then...what's going to happen?"

His frown deepening, Minato turned back to the screen with his wife. "I don't know, and that worries me. Hopefully, someone will be able to calm him down before he does something rash, like picking a fight."

Kushina groaned, facepalming. "He _does_ take more after me, Minato." She reminded him.

Minato shared her groan.

"This can't be good."

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

Naruto figured he'd look pretty weird, standing in just his underwear in front of one of the metal knobless doors However, had a goal. A _plan_, and he believed it lied inside _this_ room. He crossed his arms. Without his chakra, he'll only have his ninja skills to help him, and like any good ninja, their most important tool was _information_. While he didn't like it, Naruto will have to find answers himself. Where he was. Who these people holding him captive were. Any way of contacting Konoha. Anything he could find will be just as valuable as any of his jutsu.

_At least that's what Kakashi-sensei told him._

_And Iruka-sensei._

_And Old Man Hokage._

_And Ero-Sennin._

_And Baa-chan._

_And Saku-_Okay, pretty much **everyone**.

Grumbling about people always taking shots at him for not being as smart as Sasuke or Shikamaru, Naruto tried to figure out how to open the door. Obviously trying to break it down didn't work the last time - seriously, who makes doors out of _metal_?! - and with no knob, he couldn't pick the lock. Not to mention he didn't have his tool pouches or hidden pouch in his sandal. On that note, he'll have to find his sandals and _awesome_ orange jacket. Tsk-ing in annoyance, he looked at the box sticking to the wall beside the door. Leaning closer, he looked at it. He couldn't see any buttons on it, just a narrow slit on the front side. Scratching the back of his head, he carefully placed his hand on the box-thing, trying to see there was a hidden switch or something to open the door.

However, there was no such luck. No button nor a switch.

Now normally, Naruto would just forget about it and continue trying to find a way out elsewhere. However...he _really _wanted to see what was inside this door. His curiosity compelled him! So, he did the only thing he could think of.

With both hands, he grabbed hold of the box and began pulling as hard as he could. He gritted his teeth, sweat gathering on his forehead. He continued to pull with all his might before the box finally tore out of the wall, leaving sparking wires. Staggering back, Naruto waved his arms to try and get his footing, which he luckily managed to do. Letting out a breath in relief, he looked at the wires sticking out of the wall. Frowning in even more confusion, he angrily scratched his head. "Argh! This is getting me nowhere, dattebayo!" he growled, tossing the now useless box over his shoulder. "Now what do I do?!"

Suddenly, with a large spark from the mess of wires that startled him, the closed-door suddenly _opened_ with a _'swish!'_.

. . . .

Blinking, Naruto stared at the open room. "Huh...guess that worked."

**_"!"_**

Naruto jumped with a yelp as suddenly the light from the ceiling turned red and a loud alarm blared. "Crap!" He cursed, looking around in panic.

**_"Warning! Warning! Security breach detected!"_**

"Double crap!"

Ears twitching, Naruto could faintly hear the sound of people heading his way. Looking at the open room, he quickly entered. The second he did, another spark came from the hole of wires, and the door immediately shut close once more.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

Tony groaned, rubbing his forehead as the alarm blared. "Seriously, what now?!" First, the strange kid from another dimension sneaks out of the med bay, and now this?!

**"Sir, the patient has been located." **J.A.R.V.I.S. announce over the intercom near Tony, making the man let out a sigh of relief. **"Unfortunately, he has locked himself inside the room of Mr. Barton after damaging the keypad."**

Tony cursed. Great, now he had to fix _that_! With a groan, he made his way toward Hawkeye's room, where he spotted said archer and Thor already there, standing in front of the door. Luckily the security alarm deactivated, it was giving him a headache.

"Oh come on! Why _my_ room?!" Clint practically whined as he pounded on his locked door. "Open up, kid!" He demanded. There was no response, but they could hear the sound of stuff hitting the floor making Hawkeye narrow his eyes. "You better not be touching my stuff, brat!"

_"...koko kara no michi..."_

Clint continued banging on the door, trying to get it to open. Growing impatient, he turned to Tony. "Can't you open this damn thing?"

"I've built this place to stand up to heavy attacks, that includes the inside doors. I also can't open it because the kid busted the control mechanism."

"Then let's just bust the door down!" Hawkeye said, stepping back from the door as he pulled out his collapsible bow and one of his exploding arrows. However, before he could even notch the arrow, Tony quickly moved in front of him.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up! Can we _please_ not damage my precious tower!" The billionaire exclaimed, holding his hands out in front of him.

With a tsk, Hawkeye lowered his bow. "Fine, but I swear if the kid is playing around with my arrows, I'll throttle him!"

Tony waved him off. "Relax! The kid shouldn't even be up and about in his condition. No doubt he was just startled being here and hid in your room to rest. I bet right now he's sleeping soundly in your bed."

**_BOOM!_**

With a sudden and unexpected explosion, followed quickly by the floor under their feet shaking, Tony immediately ordered.

"Thor! Break down the door!"

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

**_Moments ago w/ Naruto_**

As the metal door closed shut behind him and looking like he wouldn't be able to reopen it, Naruto looked around the room he had desired to enter and was now trapped inside. He didn't really know what he would have expected in the room. Maybe an office? A place with a map or radio. Something to contact Konoha with, as luckily, Kakashi-sensei taught him, Sasuke and Sakura how to work radios if put in situations like this.

A window to escape?!

Unfortunately, he was in what looked like an ordinary bedroom, slightly messy with the mentioned bed right in front of him against the far wall. Boxes pushed against the side walls with a desk in the room's corner along with a drawer. He saw what looked like a bed with a green top and holes on all sides, and colorful balls with numbers on top of it; a small target range on the wall; shelves with picture frames; as well as what looked like hoist shelves on the room sides, holding a large assembly of arrows and bows. It looked like he was in that archer guy's room, given the bows and arrows. The room was also enclosed, no window to the outside world insight, much to his annoyance.

"Sheesh, don't these people like fresh air, dattebayo?" He mumbled as he cautiously walked to the center of the room, being careful of any possible traps. He looked around, hoping to find something he could use. He spotted what looked like metal objects on top of the desk, devices which he was completely lost in their function, and had no desire to mess with them.

Wouldn't want to accidentally set off a bomb or anything.

With a deep sigh, Naruto approached the bed and sat down on the edge. "This whole thing is troublesome...damn it Sasuke, why the hell did you have to be such an idiot." He mumbled, narrowing his eyes in a glare. He had no idea where he was, how he ended up there, who these people holding him captive were, or how to get out. Not to mention that without his chakra, his situation was even more grim.

_'No chakra, no Kakashi-sensei or Ero-Sennin...no pants.' _He thought, looking down at his green boxers with cartoonish toads on them. A gift from Jiraiya for learning the Rasengan. He really should find some clothes.

Seeing the closet, Naruto hummed, before sighing. He stood up and approached it.

_The second rule of what to do when you find yourself captured by an enemy and need to figure out how to escape: use any item around you to your advantage, be it tools, weaponry or clothing to aid in stealth._

Opening the closet doors, Naruto raised a brow at the several articles of clothing ranging from shirts to jackets. All in various shades of violet or just plain black. He also saw they were more suited for a grown man's size.

"This guy needs some orange." He muttered as he pulled out a plain black shirt. Holding it out in front of him, he frowned as it seemed too large for him. "It can't be helped, dattebayo." He mumbled and proceeded to put it on. As it covered his upper body, the shirt falling to just above his knees, he could still see the faint light of the device on his chest shine through. Idly tapping his finger on the metal device, he looked around. He'll need some pants.

Moving to the drawers, idly glancing at the picture frame on top showing the archer with a woman and two kids, smiling at the camera, he began opening each one until he managed to find black pants. Though they were long pants, far longer than his own legs, making him sigh. "It's only until I get back to Konoha." He reminded himself, once more cursing his short stature, as well as his lack of kunai to cut the legs so they were short enough to come down to his knees.

Once he put the pants on, though they hung a bit due to being a bit larger than his waist and he rolled the legs up, Naruto decided to check out the arrow and bow sets out of curiosity. He couldn't really go anywhere with the door locked. Standing in front of the arrow display cases, he tilted his head. Reaching up, he took an arrow out. While he might not have any skill in weaponry aside from kunai and shuriken, he still found other weapons like swords cool. Arrows, while maybe not as cool, were still pretty useful. Turning to the bows, he pulled one down to look it over. "Pretty cool, dattebayo." He muttered with an awed smile.

Suddenly a loud bang was heard, startling him that he dropped the bow. Hearing sounds coming from behind the door, Naruto looked towards it. Looked like the people who kidnapped him noticed he was missing. He heard something or someone hitting the door.

_"Open up, kid!" _He heard someone shout, though he couldn't understand them. Deciding to ignore them for now, he looked back at the arrow. He noticed that the tip was metallic and more round in width than a regular flat one. He raised a brow at that, wondering what the point of it was. He shrugged.

Meh, what did he know about arrows, dattebayo?

_"You better not be touching my stuff, brat!"_

"There has to be a way out of here." Naruto told himself, looking around the room. Unfortunately, other than the air vent and the currently stuck door, there was no other way out. "Seriously, haven't these people ever heard of a window?" He questioned, idly rubbing the tip of the arrow against the side of his head.

_Click!_

"Hm?" Blinking at hearing a sudden clicking sound, Naruto moved his arm and the arrow out in front of him. The metal part of the arrow was..._blinking_ with red lights. "What the?"

_Beep!...Beep!...Beep!...Beep! Beep! Beep! Beepbeepbeepbeep!_

Naruto's eyes widened. While he didn't know what the beeping was about, if his instincts were right, then…

Acting quickly, he chucked the arrow away. The arrow soared through the air, before landing beside the bed on the floor.

BEEP! **_BOOM!_**

"Whoa!" Naruto waved his arms around, the resulting explosion, while small, taking him by surprise and pushing him back. Regaining his balance, he waved his arm to blow off the smoke from the blast. Blinking, he peered through the smoke as it began to disperse. There, on the floor, was a hole. Not too large, but wide enough to leap through, right into what is possibly a level below.

Blinking once, twice, Naruto grinned at his new exit way. Chuckling, he jumped through, going down.

Just as he left, the door burst into pieces, as Thor entered the room, his mighty hammer in hand, sparking. Behind him, Tony and Clint entered, the rich inventor sighing at his destroyed door, while Clint gasped in horror at the large hole in his floor.

"Oh, come on!"

Tony facepalmed. "J.A.R.V.I.S., where is the kid now?" He asked, groaning.

This day was becoming too damn long for his liking.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

After escaping from possible capture through the hole he _"intentionally" _made, Naruto dropped down into an empty room directly under the archer's own. Escaping into the hallway that was thankfully clear, he went down a random direction, still seeking a way out of the place he was in. Luckily, he hadn't run into any more 'guards', and after many twists and turns and checking just about every room - which unfortunately were empty and therefore of no help - he found himself standing before a door different from the others. For one, it was wooden instead of metallic like the others, the metal being a golden color. Second, it was a double set. Third, they were _big_. Probably a quarter of the size of Konoha's gates. Lastly…

It was glowing. Like, seriously glowing. Now, Naruto was no door expert...but he was pretty sure doors shouldn't be glowing.

Stared at the large, glowing, metallic doors, one thought in his mind.

_'This has to be the way out, dattebayo!'_ He thought, grinning.

In the seal, Minato and Kushina facepalmed at their son's reckless thinking, while Kyuubi laughed, finding great enjoyment in all of this.

Hands against the doors, Naruto pushed as hard as he could, grunting from the effort as the doors slowly opened, bright light shining through the cracks, forcing him to close his eyes. Opening the doors as wide as he could, he paused, eyes clenched shut as the light became too much. Halting for a moment, he waited till his eyes adjusted, before slowly opening them. Once he did, he gasped.

He thought the door would be an exit out of the place, and he was..._half right? Maybe?_

The door did lead into a larger, open area, but he doubted it was to the outside.

He stood in a _massive _golden place, the floor all shiny and gold like the door, reflecting his image, with a high arc ceiling, and...fog. Yeah, for some reason a low fog or mist covered the ground a bit. At least in the entryway. There was a large opening leading somewhere, but it was all hidden in mist.

"...Something tells me this is...not an exit, dattebayo." He said, sweat-dropping. He tensed, as a growl reached his ears. He looked around for the source of the growl, keeping his guard up. Just then, he noticed a shadow appear in the mist, the growl coming from it. What he saw come out of the mist...well, let's just say he was **_not _**expecting.

He...well he honestly didn't know how to describe the..._thing_ that came from the mist. An animal? Though clearly not like any he's seen before. And he's faced giant snakes and toads!

It was green. Walked on four legs. Wait...make that _six_ legs. Had several horns/spikes coming from its back. With a tuft of fur(?) on its back like some kind of mohawk. Two large horns on the sides of its...head? Hard to tell since he couldn't see a neck. Had a wide mouth. Finally, pure white eyes, no pupils visible, yet he could somehow feel the _hunger_ in them as the creature stared at him.

"Yep...definitely _not _an exit." He muttered, sweating nervously as the creature growled, before charging at him. Yelping, Naruto quickly turned around and ran back out the doors, grabbing them and pulling them close just as the creature leaped towards him. Luckily, he managed to close the doors shut just as the creature hit them, slamming them closed. The force pushed Naruto onto his back, groaning.

"Seriously! Where in Kami's name am I?!" He exclaimed, getting very tired of the crap he's dealing with!

_"Hey! Who's there?!"_

Eyes widening at the sound of a voice, Naruto shot upward, quickly getting up. Turning to the direction of the voice, he froze as he stared at…

"The angel…?" He muttered, staring at the form of a woman he thought he hallucinated.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

"...belief that should I increase the power output of my suit's Miniaturization Particles, or _'Pym Particles'_, I could, theoretically, be able to shrink myself smaller than my current hymenopteran setting, and actually be able to shrink to the size of an atom, or even _beyond _that! Imagine it! To actually study atomic structures up close! To learn things previously impossible, too! It could change the field of science forever!"

"Sounds great, Hank." Janet stated, trying to sound excited for her boyfriend, but in truth, she stopped trying to understand his _science talk _halfway through. For as much as she loved Hank and his brig brain...having a conversation with him always drove him into talking about his scientific theories and using words she sometimes thinks he makes up. Though she got the gist of it.

He wanted to shrink super small. Smaller than an ant. It _did _sound pretty neat to her.

With a yawn, Janet stretched her arms up. Things in New York have been quiet lately. No big bad villains have popped up, which she was surprised about, with the whole Prison Break from the four Super-Prisons: The Cube, the Big House, The Vault, and The Raft; all owned by the secret-not secret organization, S.H.I.E.L.D.; previously containing many of Earth's most dangerous supervillains, only to all be broken out, somehow, simultaneously.

Now approximately 74 villains are out and about with no knowledge of their locations.

_'I'm surprised they haven't been attacking the city after breaking out.'_ Janet thought, idly taking a bite out of her sandwich she made in the kitchen.

Her life really took a turn since aliens attacked New York and the Avengers formed.

Then just last month, supervillains all broke out from their prison cells in S.H.I.E.L.D.-built prisons, with the only one returned being a mad man with insane gravity powers. That guy was tough, thankfully they had the Hulk show up to help take him down.

And now recently, some ninja kid from another dimension literally dropped down on their doorstep - or more accurately, their _roof_ \- looking like he came straight out of a war.

_'How the hell can a month feel so eventful, yet so boring at the same time?'_ She thought with another yawn. What she would give to have a supervillain appear so she could kick their ass! Her thoughts then turned to their new guest, who's been unconscious for the past week or so. _"I wonder how he'll act when he wakes up? Does he even know about his situation? That he's in another dimension? Will he be scared? Will he be hostile? How old is he anyway? He looked pretty young. Maybe 12? And is he really a child soldier?! Seriously, what kind of world did he come from to be a soldier at his age?!"_ The more she thought on it, the wilder her thought process ran, ideas and questions continuously popping and filling her head so much she barely heard Hank calling her name.

"Janet? Janet!"

"Huh?!" Blinking, Janet shook her head to clear away her thoughts as she turned to the concerned Hank. "Sorry. What did you say?"

Hank frowned worriedly at her. "Are you alright? I've been calling your name for the past minute."

She sighed. "Sorry, I was just thinking about everything that's been happening lately."

"Do you want to talk about it? You know I'm always here for you."

Janet looked at him, smiling faintly in gratitude. "It's just-"

_"Maji! Kami no namae wa doko ni iru no?!"_

The couple stopped, blinking at the sudden shout.

"What was that?" Janet asked, and before Hank could say anything, the young petite woman was already moving towards the sound, making him sigh. He really wished Janet wouldn't be so reckless sometimes. With a slight shake of his head, he followed behind her.

Turning the corner, Janet called out to whoever was there that shouted, when she was forced to come to a stop, blinking as she stared ahead of her. There, in front of her, laying on the floor in front of the door to Thor's room, was the kid from another dimension she had just thought about. He was wearing clothes different from what he wore last time she saw him, a black shirt and pants, both looking too big for him, a glow coming from his chest that she recognized as Tony's Arc Reactor, idly recalling Tony explaining to the team that that was how the kid could be saved from his injuried state.

_"Tenshi…?"_

"Huh?!" Janet exclaimed, blinking rapidly as she took a step back in surprise, hearing what the kid muttered as he sat up, staring at her with a surprised expression. Her mind flashed back to her conversation with Natasha.

_"It's Japanese for 'angel'." Natasha said._

A small faint blush appeared on her cheeks, feeling a bit embarrassed at being called an angel. Sure she's been called _cute_ a few times before for her petite figure as opposed to other women with more..._meat_ on their bodies like Natasha - who had a _literal_ killer body, perfect for seducing men and women like the super-spy she was. However, she has _never _been called something as insane as an 'angel' before! Well, other than from her parents when she was a child, of course.

Shaking her head, shaking off the small blush as well, Janet focused back on the tower's mysterious guest, as Hank finally joined her.

"Huh? The child?" Hank asked, spotting the blond, who tensed at his appearance. "I thought he'd be in the infirmary."

"There _was _an alarm earlier. You think...?" Janet hinted.

Hank frowned, humming. "Either way, we should get him back to the med bay. He shouldn't be moving about in his state." He muttered, and took a step forward, making the blond tense more, taking a half-step back. Seeing this, Hank held his hands up. "Easy now. I know this must all be confusing for you, but if you follow us back to the med bay, I promise that everything will be-"

Naruto did not give him the chance to finish as he charged forward.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

Naruto was momentarily stunned as he stared at the face of what he had thought was a pain/exhaustion-induced dream/hallucination of an angel. To now learn that she was, in fact, real...well, it left him a bit embarrassed, considering that he _may _have called her and that other woman with red hair - who may or may not be real as well - as such out loud before falling unconscious. So she _may_ have heard him.

_'Kami damnit! Me and my big mouth!'_ He mentally cursed, a faint blush on his cheeks. Though, looking at her, he couldn't say he was lying. The woman, while a bit shorter compared to other women he's seen and known, as well as not as..._big_ as some like Tsunade-baachan, Kurenai-sensei, or that crazy long tongue lady in the Chunin Exam. She was still a smoking hot babe!

_Meanwhile, in the seal, seeing all of this, and hearing her son's thoughts, Kushina giggled madly. Minato cracking a small smile. It seems their son has had some influence from Kakashi and/or Jiraiya._

He quickly shook his head, trying to toss away that thought. _'Damn you, Ero-Sennin!'_ He cursed his perverted teacher, blaming him for thinking like that. The last thing he wanted was to start behaving like the perverted toad hermit. He got hit enough by Sakura-chan and Baa-chan.

Focusing back, Naruto tensed when he saw another person suddenly appear, moving to stand by the woman in a black and yellow...dress(?). While the woman had dark brown, a bit reddish, hair with the ends curved upward, the man had light brown hair, wearing what looked like a red version of Rock Lee and Gai-sensei's one-piece suit with three bold black lines coming from the shoulders and pelvis and meeting at a large black circle in the middle of his chest, black gloves and what might be black boots. He also wore what looked like a metal belt around his waist.

A weird outfit, but still a lot better than the dreaded Green One-Piece of Youth.

He saw the man and woman having a conversation. He frowned, hearing a small bit of what they were saying, and once again, couldn't understand a single word.

Damn code talk!

"This is becoming a headache, dattebayo." He grumbled, watching the two talk to one another before turning to him. The man suddenly took a step towards him, in turn making Naruto backup, watching the man warily. His hands flexed open and close, muscles tensing in preparation. Chances were these two could be trying to capture him for imprisonment. He once more cursed the fact in not having a weapon in hand or being able to use his chakra.

_'Still,' _He thought as he narrowed his eyes, watching the man talk his nonsense words. His hands clenched tightly, taking a deep breath. _'No way I'm going down without a fight, dattebayo!'_

_"if you follow us back to the med bay, I promise that everything will be-"_

Whatever the man was saying, whatever his weird words could mean in his weird code language, Naruto ignored them as, with his leg strength honed throughout his long years of shinobi training, Naruto shot at the two, taking them by surprise not only for his action but also at the speed he showed.

In the time it took them to blink, the young man they had kept in their line of sight moved in a blur, appearing less than a foot from them. Or more specifically…

_"Gah!"_

_"Hank!"_

The bottom of his _foot_ appeared less than 12 inches away from Hank's _face_. With a surprising hard slam, Hank was sent flying backward, hitting the metal ground with a slide, making Janet gasp before she turned to the short blond. _"Hey!"_ She exlaimed, but Naruto continued on, and dropping down, kicked Janet's legs from under her, causing her to fall on her butt.

Sparing a glance at the two, Naruto turned and ran down the hall, ignoring the calls from the woman as he only sought to finally locate a way to escape wherever he was.

"Wait!" Janet called to the whisker-faced blond, watching as he ran down the hall. She turned toward Hank, who sat up from the ground, groaning as he held his face, his nose bleeding a bit and turning red. "Hank! I'm going after him! Notify the others!" She told him. Without giving him time to respond, Janet began to glow. She then started shrinking, her size and shape contracting until she became the size of a mouse. From her back, insect-like wings appeared, flapping hard and fast like a real insect. With a soft buzzing, the miniature Janet hovered in the air momentarily before flying down the hall after the mysterious kid, surprisingly moving in fast speed for her new small size.

Getting up from the floor, Hank groaned, rubbing his nose with a wince. The kid sure had a hard kick. Shaking his head, he reached up to his ear where a comlink was. He had to notify Tony and Steve about their guest being awake, if they didn't know already.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

Tony groaned, massaging his forehead as he watched the live camera feed of their missing ninja from another dimension running down a hall of their tower with a shrunken Janet chasing after him. "Kid's sure determined to get out of here. I just wish he'd slow down a bit so we could explain things to him." He muttered, continuing to watch. He understood that things might seem strange to the kid, waking up in a place you don't even recognize, but they weren't going to hurt him or anything. "J.A.R.V.I.S., any luck translating the kid's language?" He asked, bringing up recorded clips on the kid talking, few as they were, hoping they could patch them together to create a form of translation. From what he noted, the kid didn't understand English, only seemingly speaking Japanese, though it was sorta different from the modern language. It might be because the kid came from another realm, so their language, while similar, could have some differences. He wanted a 100% correct translation so as to not accidentally say the wrong thing and frighten the kid, or possibly make things worse.

**"Translation currently at 35%, sir. You were indeed correct that, while very much similar, current analysis on the boy's spoken words show some differences with the modern Japanese alphabet. While not a complete difference, I'd suggest caution in using it to speak with him. I will require further sampling to have anything close to a 100% analysis."**

"Hopefully Janet can get the kid to talk." Tony said, looking back at the feed, seeing Janet finally caught up with the kid.

Also, where the hell was Cap?

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

"Seriously, where the hell is the kami damn exit?!" Naruto muttered as he looked around, pausing in his running. So far, he has checked just about every room he could find on the floor, and he still couldn't find a way out! He even tried punching the wall, to no effect. He was starting to get ticked off with this situation. "If only I could use my chakra!" He said, glaring at the metal glowing plate on his chest, it's pulsing glow seemingly mocking him. He scratched his head angrily. "DAMN IT! HOW THE HELL DO I ESCAPE THIS PLACE?!"

_"Wait!"_

Naruto blinked, hearing a voice. He turned around, facing the direction it came from. He frowned when he saw no one there, glancing around suspiciously. He thought it was that strange invisible voice from before, but this one sounded female. Shrugging, he decided not to pay it any attention and faced forward, only to jump back with a startled yelp, as inches from his face, was a...small woman.

A familiar woman.

The same woman from before, only...small. _Really_ small. About the size of a kunai. Not to mention that she was floating in the air, having what looked like..._wings_?

"What the?!" He stepped back, staring at the small woman with wide eyes. He has seen Choji use his clan's Expansion Jutsu before, but he's never seen someone do the exact opposite. Was this the lady's bloodline? He'll admit, it was pretty cool.

_"Listen! Please calm down! We're trying to help you-Hey!"_ She was cut off as she was forced to move out of the way as Naruto attempted to swipe at her. _"Cut it out!"_

Naruto glared at the bee(?)-theme dressed woman, backing up. "Stop talking in your stupid code, dattebayo! Where am I?! Why did you people kidnap me! What do you want?!"

_"Please, just listen to me!"_ Janet tried to calm him down, only to dodge another swipe. She continued to dodge swipes, as try as she might, she could not get the young blond to settle down nor seize his attacks, which were starting to annoy her. _"I said QUIT IT!"_ Holding her arms up, the gauntlets on her wrists began to glow, before firing laser blasts. Low powered, as she didn't want to hurt him _too much_.

"Ow!" Naruto yelped as the tiny yellow energy blasts struck his face. They didn't hurt, of course, though they did leave a sting with each impact. He tried to shield his face with his arms, trying to block them, only for the woman to fly around them, firing from another point. "Ow! Ow! Cut it out!"

Finally stopping her assault, Janet let out a deep sigh, feeling calmer now. _"I'm sorry, but please. If you could just-Hey!"_ She didn't get the chance to finish, as Naruto reached out to try and grab her, forcing her to move out of the way. _"That's not nice!"_ Janet exclaimed, continuing to dodge. Growing annoyed, Janet retaliated as she fired her _Wasp Stings_ at him. To her surprise, the blond leaned back, dodging the laser blasts. _"Whoa, he's fast."_ She muttered.

Leaning back up, Naruto jumped back, making space between them, glaring at the floating woman.

"This place is insane. Rooms that are huge inside with strange animals, and shrinking flying women that shoot lightning out of their hands? Could this be one of that Snake-Pedo's bases or something?" He muttered, his mind working fast with possibilities and ideas. He really couldn't remember what happened at the end of his battle with Sasuke, after allowing himself to be pierced through the chest by the teme's attack. For all he knew, he could have been captured and taken by Orochimaru's minions while he was out cold. _'Would explain the weird animal. Probably one of his sick experiments.'_

Though he did find it strange that he hasn't run into either the Snake or the traitorous spy Kabuto yet. Not that he was complaining really, at his current state - both still slightly weak and tired, as well as being unable to channel his chakra - he doubted he would be able to put much of a fight against a Sannin, much less Kabuto, who stated that he was even stronger than Kakashi.

Whether or not Naruto believed the older teen's claim, he wasn't willing to try right now.

With a glow, Janet grew back to her normal size, much to Naruto's surprise, hovering above the floor, holding her arms straight apart. _"I don't want to fight you, but if I have to, I'll stop you here and now! I'm sorry, but you are in no shape to go anywhere. So just come with me and let's return to the med bay."_

Naruto growled, glaring at her. "Quit talking in your stupid code, dattebayo! Talk normal, and tell me where that bastard Orochimaru is!"

Janet frowned at the words spoken by the blond, coming to the realization that perhaps he couldn't speak English. _'Gonna have to try something else.'_ She thought, before moving her hands in front of her, making Naruto tense, preparing for another attack. _"Please...I'm not going to hurt you."_ She said gently. Slowly, she took off her gauntlets. Holding them up for him to see, Janet slowly knelt down, placing the gauntlets on the ground. The whole time, Naruto watched her, eyes narrowed, wondering what was happening. Janet stood up, hands open to show she didn't have any tricks. _"Please, you can trust me. I promise...I'm a friend."_ She said, giving him a soft smile.

Naruto stared at her, wondering what he should do. This strange woman looked to be offering a friendly hand towards him. Now, Naruto may show compassion to enemies sometimes, like Haku and Gaara, but even he wasn't idiotic or blind enough to trust people he didn't know...that happens _after_ he kicked their asses and show them their wrongdoings.

_'Still…'_ He thought as he looked at the auburn-haired woman, who continued to smile softly at him. This woman didn't seem to show any hostility towards him, for a seeming 'enemy'. _'Maybe...maybe I haven't been captured by Orochimaru…'_ He thought, slowly lowering his defenses, straightening up. After a moment of thinking, he gave the woman a nod.

He'll take a risk and trust this woman...for now.

Seeing the nod, Janet let out a sigh of relief, returning the nod. At least she calmed him down and prevented a fight. She slowly began approaching the young teen, taking her steps slow and steady so as to not startle him and set him off. Soon she stood merely a foot away from him, giving her the chance to look him over.

The first thing she noticed about him was that he was short. Even shorter than her own height of 5' 4". He looked to be about 4' 5". The second thing was that he had quite a peculiar appearance. Wild, almost _spiky_ she would say, bright golden yellow hair - thought a bit dirty and and need of washing - like a miniature sun as it jolted out in different directions, and what might be the brightest blue eyes she has ever seen. It was like staring at the ocean. She didn't think even Thor or Cap's own blond hair and blue eyes were as bright as this kid's,.

Speaking of eyes, while she wasn't an expert in reading people's emotions through their eyes like Steve or Natasha, she did note that the kid's eyes held a..._glint_. A strong look of _maturity_ she could say, similar to Steve. Maturity no kid should have. Maturity found only in grown men..._or child soldiers._ She frowned at that thought, remembering that this young child in front of her could be a soldier of war.

_'No child should go through war so young, or any kind of conflict! Children should be enjoying their life free and happy, not fighting battles. It's not right!'_. She thought, looking down at the blond, who stared up at her with cautious and strong eyes. _'That doctor guy said that he came from another reality or realm. He's alone here. Alone and hurt.'_ She glanced at the shining Arc Reactor glowing through his shirt. Looking back up at his eyes, Janet made a vow. _'I'll help him. That's what an Avenger does, right? They help people in need. That's what being a hero means. Right now this kid needs the life taken from him avenged, and the others and I will be the heroes he needs.'_ She thought determinedly, raising her hands up towards him.

_"Come with me."_

Naruto looked at the hand held out towards him, frowning. While he couldn't understand the words she spoke, he understood the meaning behind her actions. She was telling him to go with her, to trust her. _'It could be a trap.' _He thought. But...did he have any other choice? He might get answers if he went with the woman. Find out where he was. Other than the chakra disruption device on his chest, these people haven't hurt him or anything. He also didn't wake up in a prison cell like in his mission in the Land of Snow. He clenched his hand, thinking.

In the seal, Minato and Kushina watched their son's scene with rasp attention. "Naru-chan..." Kushina muttered, hands pressed over her chest. "Trust her. Trust _them_."

_'Maybe...'_ Looking at the woman, he slowly began to raise his hand. His hand shook with caution as it neared the women's own. He hoped he didn't regret this.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

"I swear when I get my hands on that kid..." Clint hissed through gritted teeth as he stomped through the hallway, pissed about the new hole in his room floor. Now he was on the hunt for the whisker faced blond brat to make him pay.

"Calm yourself, friend Hawkeye. I'm sure it was merely an accident." Thor said, walking behind the fuming archer, joining him in locating the tower's missing guest. Though unlike his teammate, Thor was in the need to ensure the boy was well, given his prior state.

"Did the kid really blow a hole in your floor?" Sam Wilson(3) asked curiously, brow raised. He had run into the two after finishing his training session in the tower's training room and was brought up to speed on what was going on, including what had occurred in Hawkeye's room.

"YES!" Clint practically yelled, anger in his voice. "A freaking hole, right on my bedroom floor! And I'm not talking about a small one either! The brat must have been messing with my arrows and set off an explosive one! Now I have to wait for it to be fixed! Seriously, why did he have to go into _my _room?!"

"An honest mistake, I'm sure." Thor said, waving off Clint's words with an amused chuckle. "What is important now is locating the child to make sure he is alright." He stated, getting a nod from Sam, and a growl from Clint, having other ideas on what he'll do when he finds the kid.

Seriously! A _hole_ in his floor! Was he the only one focusing on that?!

Turning a corner, the three men stopped. Ahead of them, they spotted their teammate, Janet. Not only that but in front of her was the young man they've been looking for. "There he is!" Clint stated, glaring at the brat, fingers twitching with the urge to shoot an arrow at him.

He wouldn't hurt the kid, of course, just spook him a little. Teach him a lesson in invading another person's privacy and touching their stuff!

Smiling joyfully, Thor held up an arm, calling out. "Excellent work, Wasp! I see thou hast located our guest!" He announced loudly, getting their attention.

At the presence of new arrivals, Naruto flinched, his hand moments away from touching Janet's. With wide eyes, Naruto pulled back, taking a step back. Janet turned around, seeing her teammates approaching her. Gasping, she turned back to Naruto, seeing the tension return on his face. "Wait!" She began but was too late as the blond turned around and ran down the hall. "No~!" She moaned, seeing her work in calming him down, go down the drain. Turning to the approaching Thunderer, she glared at him. "Thor! Look what you did! You scared him off!"

Flinching at her glare, the Asgardian rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Apologies, Wasp. I had no such intention to scare the young lad away. Worry not! I, the God of Thunder, shall bring him for you!" He declared, fist against his chest in his vow. Holding out his mighty hammer, Thor gripped the strap tightly and began to spin the hammer around till it was a blur. One could almost hear the sound of thunder outside the tower.

"Thor, wait!" Janet began but was unable to finish as in a blur, the Asgardian shot down the hall with a jolly laugh, making the woman groan, facepalming. "I got a bad feeling about this." She groaned.

Unknown to her, on his way running, Naruto ran into Hank. Before the scientist could try to capture him, he was kicked in the face for the second time, the force knocking out, with the laughing ninja going around him.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

_'That was a mistake.'_ Naruto told himself as he ran. Whether he was referring to placing his trust in a stranger while in a hostile environment, or running off at the first sight of the new arrivals, even he didn't know.

The woman seemed kind, but when he saw the three men coming their way, he panicked and acted without thinking, turning tail and running off, ignoring the woman calling after him. He was running on instinct and his training to guide him, as being unable to understand these people, it left him lost in communication, unable to trust in their words.

_"Deception is a shinobi's greatest tool, but also their worst enemy."_ He thought, recalling the piece of advice given to him by Old Man Hokage, back when he was little. For many years, he didn't understand the meaning behind the man's words, not until the accident with Mizuki. How his teacher, someone he trusted for many years, tricked him into stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, then tried to kill him and Iruka-sensei after revealing to Naruto of his status as the container of the Kyuubi, a secret kept from him since his birth, but used as a excuse to be a target for the village's misjudged hatred.

Then there was Kabuto, a seemingly fellow Konoha shinobi at first during his first time in the Chunin Exams, approaching him and his fellow rookies with a kind smile and hand of friendship, only to later be revealed to be in league with the dreadful Snake Sannin.

Deception...truly it was a deadly tool. You never really knew who was really friend...or foe.

_'But that woman...'_ Naruto thought, frowning, thinking back to her smile directed towards him, her hand stretched out for him to grab. Her mouth moving, words coming out, but unreadable to him. _'She didn't seem like she was tricking me...but, neither did Kabuto at first.'_ He shook his head, groaning. He was getting a headache from all this thinking. Right now, he needed to concentrate on finding an exit. Then he could-

His eyes widened as his instincts _screamed _at him. He threw himself forward, dropping to the metal ground, as something big flew over him. Raising his head, he lifted a brow when he saw the muscular blond man in the cape standing before him, his fierce-looking stone hammer in hand. He stared at the man's back for a second, before the man turned around to face him.

"Shit..." He muttered.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

_"Kuso..."_ Thor heard as he turned to face the blond child, laying on the floor. He smiled as he looked at the boy. He appeared to be in better condition than when he first appeared, something Thor was glad for. "Ah, child! Thou hast worried us. Thou shouldn't leave the chamber of medicine so suddenly." He said as the younger blond with the blond and strange lines on his face stood up, narrowing his eyes at him.

_"Subarashī, kimyōna hanashi o suru betsu no kimyōna kōdo. Anata wa hitobito ga watashi ni nani o nozonde iru nodesu ka?!"_ / _("Great, another weird code talking weirdo. What do you people want from me?!")_ The boy asked, making Thor frown, unable to understand him, at least not fully. To his ears, he heard: _"...Weird old...Wing...tea.."_ He found that strange, as normally he would be able to understand any language in the Nine Realms with the _"Allspeak"_, gifted to him by his father, Odin. With it, he could understand all of Earth's separate tongues, and those beyond the universe. Yet, for some reason, the boy's language seemed...broken to his ears. "Curious" He muttered, rubbing his chin. "I suppose I should take you to Stark." He said, taking a step to approach the boy.

Naruto suddenly leaped at him, arm pulled back for a punch. Throwing his fist forward, he had thought that the man would be distracted by his attack to stop it, like the other man had, only to go wide eyed, when his fist was caught by the man's large hand. Blinking, Naruto looked up at the large man - who stood as large as Ero-Sennin, his head barely reaching the man's chest - who stared down at him with a disapproving frown.

"That was not wise, child. While I would normally applaud such bravery and ferocity for combat, you should not fight your saviors." Thor scolded him.

Sweating lightly, Naruto decided to forgo fighting this man and go with a tactical retreat. Hopping up, he planted his feet against the man's chest, using it as a platform to jump off of, freeing his hand from the man's grasp. Backflipping through the air, he landed away from the man.

He turned around to run another direction, only to find the other men and the woman from before standing behind him. Looking at both sides, Naruto saw that he was surrounded.

_"Kuso!"_

"You ain't going anywhere, kid." Clint stated, aiming an armed arrow at him. Janet had scolded him when she saw him pull it out, but he calmed her down when he said it was merely to intimidate the kid, while the arrow was a tranqualizer arrow to knock him out. He wasn't really going to fire it unless he needed to. That didn't stop her from giving him a nasty look.

Naruto clicked his tongue in annoyance, seeing no way out. He lowered his stance, ready for anything. He glanced around, hoping to find something, anything to aid him right now. Luckily, he found it as his eyes landed on a ventilation shaft near the floor to his left.

Large enough for him to slip into.

He made sure his observation was unnoticed as he turned back to the group surrounding him, his eyes landing on the woman, who stepped up.

"We're not going to hurt you." She said, holding her hands up, trying to calm him like before, this time making sure the others didn't interrupt her.

Naruto looked at her, glancing at the two men behind her, especially the archer, who was giving him a nasty look. The man with dark skin and metal vest watched on silently, possibly ready to step in if needed. Glancing over his shoulder, he eyed the muscular blond man, who stood there, arms crossed. Turning back to the woman, Naruto gave her a small smile.

_"Sumimasen, minasan. anata wa sutekina yōdesuga, watashi wa koko ni imasen,dattebayo." / ("Sorry, Miss. You seem nice, but I'm outta here, dattebayo.")_

Janet cringed her eyes in confusion, wondering what he was saying. However, before she could say anything or the others did something, Naruto turned on his heel, facing the side, and shot forward. Seeing him move, Clint acted and fired at arrow as the boy leaped at the wall. He seemingly was going to hit the wall, only for him to throw himself down, the arrow flying mere centimeters from his head, as he slid aross the floor, colliding against a low vent, breaking through it.

"Hey!" Clint shouted.

"By Odin's Beard!" Thor exclaimed.

"Seriously?!" Sam sounded.

Janet gasped. "Wait!" She called. With her wings flapping, she shot forward, shrinking down to the size of a bee, and followed after the blond teen into the vent, leaving the three men alone in the hallway, glancing at one another.

"What the hell just happened?" Clint asked.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

"J.A.R.V.I.S.?" Tony asked.

**"...Translation at 85%, sir."**

"It'll have to do." Tony asked, turning around and moved to exit the room. "Send the translation to my helmet. Hopefully, it'll be enough to calm the kid down before anything bad happens. Where is he now?"

**"Sensors indicate the patient is in the air vents...sir, the patient has dropped rapidly and is heading towards your lab."**

"What?! Crap! Better get there fast. The last thing I need is the kid blowing a hole in _my_ room."

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

**_(Moment Ago w/ Naruto)_**

Once more finding himself crawling through the dirty, dust-filled air vents, Naruto wondered where he should go now. _'If I remember right, air vents lead outside. Either to the building side, or the roof. So, If I keep following this way, it should lead me out.'_ He thought, smirking at his plan. He began to crawl forward, the only direction he had until he came across an opening or change in direction. As he crawled, he could have sworn he heard a buzzing in his ear. Shaking his head, he focused forward.

Suddenly, the miniature form of the woman in the black and yellow dress appeared in front of his face, making him yelp, jumping, which only served to make him hit his head against the vent roof. _"Itai!" / "Ouch!"_ He hissed, rubbing the top of his head. Hearing the woman giggle, he glared at her. _"Kimi wa! __Anata wa koko de nani o shite iru no?! Mōhitori ni shite oite, dattebayo!" / ("You! What are you doing here?! Leave me alone already, dattebayo!")_

Ceasing her laughter, Janet looked at the whiskered blond. While being unable to understand what the teen was saying, his facial expression gave her a hint, making her cross her arms. "If you would stop running all over the place, you'd understand that I'm trying to _help_ you!" She glared at him while leaning forward slightly, pressing her bottom lip out slightly in a pouty angry look.

Blinking, Naruto didn't understand what the woman's deal was, though he recognized the look. He mostly got them from Shizune when the woman expressed her disapproval. Usually aimed at him and/or Tsunade when they did something she did not like, be it eating too much ramen for him, or drinking too much sake for the latter. He leaned away from the glaring woman, not sure what to do.

_"...Anata wa hen na joshi desu." / ("...You're a weird lady.")_ He muttered. Shaking his head, he moved to pass Janet.

"Seriously?! You're just going to ignore me and move on?!" She asked, stumped by the teen's inability to stop. Naruto did in fact ignore her as he kept crawling. Growling in annoyance, Janet flew in front of his face, halting him. "What is it with men being so reckless and ignoring when someone's trying to help them!

Naruto frowned at her, narrowing his eyes. _"Ugoku" / ("Move")_

"Glare at me all you want, I'm trying to help you, and if you can't understand me, I'll just make you understand!" She threatened.

Narrowing his eyes further, Naruto attempted to gently swat her aside. This only angered Janet more as she dodged the hand. With a growl, she fired low-powered energy stings at him, making Naruto yelp from the hits. _"Yamete!" / ("Quit it!")_ He swiped at her to get her to stop, only for her to swoop out of the way, continuing to fire. The two went back and forth, Janet firing at Naruto from annoyance and the blond trying to block her assaults while attempting to move forward.

Unfortunately, the assault distracted Naruto from seeing where he was going, and didn't see the drop in front of him.

He yelped as an energy sting hit him in the butt. _"No musuko-AHH!" / ("Son of a-") _With a startled yell, he fell down the drop.

"Oh shit!" Janet exclaimed, quickly flying down the shaft.

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

Within Tony's built lab in the Avengers Tower, Steve Rogers stood in front of a table, arms crossed. He stared silently at the contents laid out on the table. Said contents were the items found on the young boy. Two pouches, one thinner and longer than the other. Three Japanese Triangular Kunai Blades, five Star-shaped metal shuriken, a roll of medical tape, two small scrolls the size of a quarter, a strange what he assmed to be a 'frog'-shaped wallet filled with what seemed like bills and coins, which he noted looked very similar to the Japanese currency, and a headband with a metal plate with a swirl design carved in the middle. "Guess his world really is similar to Feudal Japan...still, for someone so young to be trained as a soldier..." He muttered with a frown.

"We can't exactly question the culture and workings of other worlds, Cap." He heard behind him. Turning around, he saw the recent youngest Avenger approach.

"Carol" He nodded in greeting as the former United States Air Force Officer moved to stand at his side, looking down at the items. Reaching forward, she picked up the headband. It seemed fairly worn out, having cuts and gashes all over the metal. She ran her fingers against the cold metal, passing over the carving in the center. "I get what you're saying, but it still feels wrong. I didn't join the army until I was 18. That boy couldn't look any older than 12!" Steve said.

Not looking away from the headband, Carol responded. "I get it, I do, but there's not much we can do about it. Trust me, I don't like the idea of a boy that young being trained to fight in wars and kill. It's not right by our standards, but we can't really change how a world works, no matter how much we want to." She stated.

Steve sighed, conceding with her point, as well as surprised by her smart logic and wisdom. "I get it. I suppose it's just the veteran in me. I fought in a war to ensure that no child would be forced to fight as I have. To take lives. To fight in wars and be forced to watch their friends fall before them."

_"Bucky!"_

Closing his eyes, Steve breathed in deeply. Even after everything he has experienced and learned since being defrosted and awakening in this new time, the memory of that event still haunts him.

Turning to him, the younger blonde opened her mouth to say something, when the two suddenly heard something. Raising their heads, they idly listened as the sound of banging and...screaming reached their ears, coming from the ceiling. "What the?" Carol question.

_"...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa_aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHHHH!"

With a mighty crash, the two saw something burst through the air vent, crashing hard against the floor behind them, kicking up a cloud of dust. The two tensed, getting in guarded stances, wondering who or what would crash before them. Staring at the cloud of dust, the two could hear the sound of groaning coming from it.

_"Ienikaeru junbi ga dekimashita, baachan~..." / ("I'm ready to go home now, Granny~...")_

The dust soon cleared, and the two heroes blinked as they looked upon the form of the very person they were just talking about, comically laying face down on the floor, his face planted to the metal floor. They glanced at one another, unsure of what to think.

"Naruto!" They heard a voice from the very vent the child dropped from, and raising their heads, they saw Janet come on in her tiny form. "Oh no! Is he okay?!" She asked, worried.

Carol looked at the groaning teen. "Seems alive to me." She said, walking towards him. Getting close, she nudged him with her foot, getting a loud groan. "You alright there?" She asked him.

_"Watashi wa ima made de saiaku no un o mota nakereba narimasen, dattebayo." / ("I have to have the worst luck ever, dattebayo.")_ Naruto grumbled, rolling himself over. He started up at the form hovering over him, dazed from his fall. _"Betsu no tenshi?" / ("Another angel?")_ He mumbled.

"Huh?" Carol asked, raising a brow at his words.

Blinking, Naruto snapped out of his dazed state, his vision clearing better. Getting a better look at the stranger over him, his eyes widened. Carol yelped, leaning back as the blond male teen sat up in a blur, narrowingly avoiding their heads colliding. "Hey! Watch it!" She exclaimed, glaring at him as the teen quickly got up to his feet, turning to face her, watching her warily. His caution increased once he noticed Cap behind her.

_"Motto anata no hito?" / ("More of you people?")_ He asked, narrowing his eyes at them.

Steve stepped forward, hands up in a show of nonviolence, Janet landing beside him, growing to her full size. "Easy, son. We're not going to hurt you. Quite the opposite actually."

"Already tried that, Cap." Janet told him, keeping her eyes on Naruto.

Naruto stared at the man, watching his every move, along with the blonde lady beside him. They both had blond hair - the man with short, while the teen's hair flowed down to her back - and blue eyes - like the other muscular man from before, which surprised him a good bit with the number of blue-eyed blonds this place had. Back home, the only other people he knew in Konoha with blond hair and blue eyes were the Yamanaka Clan. The man's muscular physique made him a bit nervous, knowing he might not be able to fight him head-on alone, as the man seemed to be well trained in combat, and with no clones to help him…

He growled, anger filling him. He was powerless, unable to use his chakra, didn't know where he was or how to contact Konoha. He really wasn't liking his situation.

The man wore what seemed like a military-style outfit, looking something like mesh armor under some kind of fabric. It was colored mostly blue with bits of white and red. He also had brown heavy-duty boots and armored gloves with straps over his shoulders and belt around his waist. On his chest was a design of a white star. Last but not least, he had a wide round shield of the same color scheme strapped to his back.

In Naruto's honest opinion, the red, white, and blue made the man stand out even more than his orange jacket _(it didn't, really)._

His eyes turned to the blond female. She looked to be around his age, a few years older than him maybe. _'She's kinda cute.'_ He couldn't help but think, a slight red hue on his cheeks, before pushing it down. He shouldn't be admiring possible enemies! Damn Ero-Sennin!

Her attire was less guarding than the man and kinda..._revealing_. Considering all she seemed to wear was a black sleeveless leotard with a large yellow lightning bolt design in the front, long black elbow-length gloves, and thigh-high black boots, leaving her upper thighs exposed. On her face, she had what looked like a mask, covering her eyes in white fabric to shield them. The final piece she had was a long red sash wrapped around her waist, the ends trailing in the air freely.

It took _all _his willpower not to stare at the exposed skin for longer than a second, his cheeks burning red. Even more when he noted that the leotard was skintight, and helped show off her..._ahem_, moderately large chest. _'Ero-Sennin would have a field day with her outfit.'_ He thought, knowing his perverted teacher as he did. Not that he could really blame the old perv, with the way the blonde was dressed.

Still, for seemingly not looking well protected, the older teen had a good amount of muscle on her arms, well-toned legs, and abs under her outfit, showing she had to be pretty strong.

Carol seemed to noticed his eyes rolling over her form, and crossed her arms, glaring at him. "Hey! Eyes up, brat!" She shouted.

However, something caught his attention from the group. Something that drew his eyes. Something in the female teen's hand.

_Something metallic._

His eyes widened when he recognized his headband in the blonde's grasp. _"Watashi no kachūsha!"_ _/ ("My headband!")_ He suddenly shouted, taking them by surprise. Glaring at the stunned teen, Naruto pointed at the headband. _"Watashi no monodesu!" / ("That's mine!")_

Carol blinked, looking down at the headband in her hand. "Oh! This yours, right? I was just looking-" Raising her head, her eyes widened as Naruto charged at her. "Hey! Wait!"

_"Kore o toru!" / ("Take this!")_ With a shout, he threw a hard punch at Carol. Acting quickly, Carol raised her hand, catching the punch. Surprisingly, she felt a bit of force behind the punch, enough that it blew her hair back. With wide eyes, she stared down at fierce blue eyes glaring up at her. His other hand clenching, he threw it forward.

With her hand holding the headband, Carol put her arm up, blocking the fist with her forearm. "Hey! Knock it off, kid! I don't want to hurt you!" She told him firmly, glaring back. Clicking his tongue, Naruto jumped upward, smashing his forehead hard against Carol's nose, making her let out a cry of pain and shock. She staggered backward, holding her nose. "Damn brat!" In her surprise, Carol had released her hold on the headband, dropping it on the floor with a _clank_. Seeing it, Naruto quickly grabbed it, leaping back to make space between him and the strangers, smiling down at his headband.

_"Yosh!" / ("Alright!")_ He muttered, tying it around his forehead. Feeling the material against his forehead, made him grin, feeling better.

As Carol rubbed her nose, Cap stepped forward. "That's quite enough." He spoke, getting Naruto's attention. Steve raised his hands up in a non-threatening manner. "You might not be able to understand me, but I need you to listen. We. Are not. Your. Enemies."

Naruto frowning, pointing a straight finger at him. _"Damare! Mō hen'na hanashi o kikitakunai! Watashi ga doko ni iru no ka, soshite anata no hitobito wa darena no ka shiritai!" / ("Shut up! I don't want to listen to any more of your weird talking! I want to know where I am, and who you people are!")_ He demanded, glaring at the three adults before him. Just then, he noticed something behind them. _"Watashi no mono!" / ("My stuff!")_ He declared, seeing this missing stuff laid out on the table behind them, making him glare at them. _"Watashi wa anata ga hitobito ga yokunai koto o shitte imashita!" / ("I knew you people weren't good!")_

"Now hold on a min-" Steve began to say, but Naruto wouldn't allow him to finish. With a push of his strong legs, gaining more energy than before, he ran towards them, intent for violent confrontation in his eyes. Steve met his charge by stepping into his line of fire, preparing to disable the young child and hold him.

However, never say that Naruto didn't learn from his past mistakes.

As he got close, Naruto pulled back his arm, seemingly aiming for a punch with Steve ready to block it. However, in a surprising move, the younger blond suddenly dropped, sliding across the floor between Cap's parted legs, with the hero stunned by the sudden action. Getting behind him, Naruto quickly got up, pushing off the ground and leaping towards Steve, leg swinging sideways for a sidekick.

Shaking his surprise off, Steve quickly raised his arm, blocking the kick. Not letting that stop him, Naruto pushed his horizontal-aligned body into a roll, kicking out his other leg towards the man's head. Thanks to his military training, Steve stopped the leg with his other arm.

Unfortunately, with both his arms occupied, this left him open for attack, something Naruto capitalized on when he slammed his entangled hands on top of Steve's head, making the man go wide-eyed in surprise and pain and the women gasp. With his legs free, Naruto placed his hand on Cap's shoulder and used it to pull himself in over his back. He kicked off Cap's back, his feet stomping against the round shield on his back, pushing the man forward in a stagger while the blond shinobi backflipped into the air. He soared over the stunned women, landing in front of the table. Standing up, he quickly turned and gathered his things from the table.

Now he just had to find his orange jacket.

"Hey!" Janet shouted at him as Cap got his balance.

With his kunai and shuriken pouches supplied and strapped on to his back waist and right leg, the latter with medical tape, Naruto turned to the three facing him, narrowing his eyes. Taking a kunai out, he spun it around his finger, grasping it and holding it in a reverse hold in front of him, getting in a defensive stance. He'll likely have to fight his way out.

Seeing that the kid wasn't going to back down without a fight, Cap unstrapped the shield from his back, placing it on his arm, while Carol got in a stance, her hands glowing.

"Wait!" Janet shouted, getting between the three blonds, arms out. She looked at them. "Can we all just calm down for a sec!" Seriously, this whole day has been so stressful for her. She looked at her teammates. "He's just a confused kid! You can't hurt him."

"We don't plan to hurt him, Wasp." Cap told her. "We at least need to knock him out."

"Well, maybe hurt him a little." Carol muttered, still a bit miffed about the head to the nose thing.

"Let me just calm him down." Janet told them, looking back at the silent Naruto who stared at them with narrowed eyes, but made no move to attack. "He'll listen to me."

"How can you be so sure about that?" Cap asked her, not looking away from the strange child. The boy was well trained, that much was obvious. They shouldn't underestimate him.

Janet was silent for a bit, staring at Naruto, who stared back. She lowered her arms, turning fully to him. "Just trust me." She told them, _begged _them. She knew the boy was probably feeling a whole storm of emotion, but she hoped she could get through to him like before.

Cap and Carol glanced at each other, silently communicating, before Cap turned to Wasp, sighing. "Alright. Do what you have to do. We'll watch your back."

Nodding, Janet slowly took a step towards Naruto, making him tense, hand tightening around the handle of his blade. She raised her hands. She took another step forward. Seeing he wasn't making any more attempts to run away, she continued to slowly approach him, keeping eye contact. "I know you can't understand me..." she began, keeping her words slow and steady, almost like she was approaching a lion. "You're confused, I know. You probably want answers, and so do we." She now stood less than 5 feet from him, with Naruto keeping a tight grip on his kunai, ready for any surprises. "We want to help you, but you need to calm down. Please..." She told him gently.

Now a foot away, she slowly moved her hand forward, gently placing it on the hand holding the knife, making him flinch. Still, the two maintained eye contact.

Staring into Janet's eyes, Naruto frowned. _"Watashi... Anata..." / ("I...you...") _He muttered, trying to move his hand, yet for some reason, he couldn't. Janet gave him a soft smile. With her other hand in view, she slowly and steadily reached forward and pressed her palm against Naruto's chest, over the Arc Reactor in his chest. Blinking, he looked down at it, before raising his gaze to her.

"We're not going to hurt you...I promise..." She muttered, slowly pushing his arm and weapon down to his side.

Naruto frowned, keeping his gaze on her, glancing at the two older blondes behind her standing silently, before turning his gaze back to her. He stared into her eyes, seeing nothing but compassion and warmth, as well as a gentle plea to listen to her words, no matter how much he couldn't understand, yet for some reason...he did. Suddenly, he felt tired. Incredibly so, his shoulders dropping. His lips dropped with a heavy, tired frown. After a moment, he nodded, looking up at her.

_"Watashi wa... Anata o shinjimasu."_ _/ ("I...I trust you.")_

His words were soft, tired. Hesitant. Yet, they made Janet smile. Behind her, Cap and Carol let out a heavy breath of relief.

Unknown to them, in a corner of the room, hidden by the shadows, one hidden Black Widow lowered her pistols, seeing the situation had been handled. She had been following the young ninja since he escaped from Clint's room, watching him from a distance, observing him, studying him, ready to act should she have to. However, it seems drastic action was no longer needed. Still, she will still need to keep her eye on him.

**"Well, it looks like you guys calmed down our renegade realm guest."**

Naruto flinched, hearing a strange voice. Turning his head towards the source, his spine straightened as he witnessed a new figure enter the chamber. This one was heavily armored from head to toe. They were a full set of metal plating, making him think they were a samurai, like Iruka-sensei once described. Their armor was colored fully red with some gold colored plates, all smooth looking and well crafted. Their face was completely covered, with their eye holes glowing ominously.

Behind the armored being, were the rest of the 'enemies' he ran into earlier.

Janet felt Naruto tense as he glanced at her. She offered him a comforting smile.

"It's okay." She whispered gently to him. "They're friends."

Naruto looked back at the group of men as they walked their way, joining the older blondes. _"Watashi wa kore ni tsuite iyana omoi o shimashita, dattebayo." / ("I got a bad feeling about this, dattebayo.")_ He muttered, eyeing the group.

**"Good to see you on your feet, kid."** Iron Man said, looking at the short teen, who stared at him warily.

Looking at the tall armored person, Naruto felt nervous. Even more when he saw that he was surrounded by the other strange adults, the woman's hand on his own being the only thing preventing him from trying to leave, her grip gentle yet firm to hold him in place. He looked around at the group, as they all stared back at him with different expressions, from calm to calculating, to slight annoyance from the archer, but mostly _curiosity_.

Naruto frowned, eying them all, before turning to the brunette woman, asking...

_"Anata dare desu ka?" / ("Who are you people?")_

* * *

**\- CoW -**

* * *

Inside the seal, Minato and Kushina let out heavy sighs of relief. "Glad that's over, dattebane." Kushina said as she held her head, her husband nodding in agreement.

"Hopefully Naruto will listen to these people and not pick any more fights." He said, knowing their son was not in the best of shapes with what happened to his chakra network. He then frowned, a thought occurring to him.

Why were he and Kushina still there?

When he implanted the remnants of their chakra into Naruto prior to their deaths, it was for the intent of helping him with the Kyuubi should the need come and to have one final reunion with him. It wasn't to be for long, as they only had enough chakra for a few minutes.

Yet, for the better part of perhaps a several days, the two had stayed there, in their son's seal, with no sign of dissolving. He frowned, having some theories, and if he was right…

_'Looks like we might get our chance to spend more time with Naruto like we wanted. A lot more time.'_

* * *

**End of Chapter!**

**To clear things up, Naruto does have chakra, He just can't use his chakra right now. There _are_ some exceptions and stuff he CAN do, but he CAN'T use jutsu.**

**This isn't a _permanent _issue, and it will be fixed. However, for a LARGE planned majority of the story, he'll be handicapped.**

**Minato and Kushina are here. For how long?**

**How will Naruto react when he meets them? _If_ he meets them?**

**Naruto has met the heroes. Will he trust them? Will he _understand_ them?**

**Most importantly, will Naruto be ready to survive in a world of heroes and villains without his chakra to aid him?**

**We'll just have to see.**

**Reviews:**

**thegrison**: **I hope this helps you understand why I didn't do the 2nd VOTE fight. Naruto was incredibly OP at that time point, yes, but that wasn't what I wanted. This story is about a handicapped Naruto stuck in a new world and trying to survive it. I didn't want a "Shinobi God in a world of Heroes", I wanted a "Young Ninja in a world of Heroes".**

**thunderofdeath97: Thanks for pointing that error out. It should be fixed now. Again, thanks!**

**Naruto is _physically_ his Pre-Shippudden appearance, though he and his friends _are_** **their Shippudden age of 15, give or take. Why did I go this route? To keep him short. Why? Because it's funny. XD**

**This chapter's shown history was a mix of the _Avengers_ 2012 movie and the _Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes_. The Chitauri have invaded New York, where the Avengers officially formed with the movie team, with some differences obviously, and prior to Naruto's appearance, a large number of supervillains escaped from their prisons.**

* * *

**(1) Baron Mordo's history with Strange is from the _Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme_ animated movie.**

**(2) Imagine Tony Stark's Artificial Heart from _Iron Man: Armored Adventures_ in terms of visual.**

**(3) Sam's appearance is more his MCU-like appearance in _Marvel's Avengers Assemble_, not his first one.**

* * *

**Until next time!**

**Review! Share with me your thoughts!**

**Ja ne!**


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